The Fog is Lifting
by LexysamaFics
Summary: A canon divergence based on the episode "Startrain", in which Lila slips up, someone notices, shade is thrown, and the sister solidarity that we've all been waiting for since Season 3 started finally happens. (EDIT: THE REAL CHAPTER 5 IS UP NOW! Sorry for the delay and stay safe everyone!)
1. Chapter 1

The Fog is Lifting

Summary: A canon divergence based on the episode "Startrain", in which Lila slips up, someone notices, shade is thrown, and the sister solidarity that we've all been waiting for since Season 3 started finally happens.

* * *

If she hadn't seen it happen with her own eyes, Mylene probably wouldn't have believed it if someone else had told her. If she hadn't heard that displeased hum with her own two ears, she probably would have believed it to have come from someone else.

But the reality was that she _did_ see it, and she _did_ hear it.

She saw how Lila Rossi had turned her head slightly to peek on Adrien and Marinette cuddling closely in their sleep. A sight that while sweet to most of the girls, was apparently _sour_ to Lila. Mylene watched as Lila glared and let out a displeased hum that matched the frown she wore, before getting up and walking quickly towards Marinette with the intention of disturbing the sweetest scene that none of their schemes to help Marinette garner Adrien's intention, _to date_, had ever resulted in.

Thank God for Alya, who stopped Lila in her tracks. Mylene's relief however, was short-lived as she watched Lila frown and glare at Alya and Sabrina's backs, _just a few seconds_ after Sabrina had kindly offered Lila help with her motion sickness, when just before Lila had been thanking her and saying how _sweet_ Sabrina was for helping.

_Something_, Mylene thought, was _clearly_ not right here.

As Alya turned back to Lila, Mylene watched and shivered as Lila's frowning face morphed back into a kind and caring one, the displeased face gone so quickly it was like it hadn't even happened. She would be a fool to think it hadn't. This hadn't been a trick of the light, or her ears messing with her. These were deliberate actions. Deliberate actions against Marinette, who while admittedly gets a little worked up when it comes to love rivals for Adrien's heart, was currently asleep and hadn't said a word to Lila while on the train. In fact as far as they all knew, Lila had told Nino, who told Alya that she wasn't interested in Adrien. What could Marinette have _possibly_ done to Lila to garner the reaction Lila had seeing Marinette and Adrien cuddle together?

When Lila began to make her way back to her seat behind Ivan, Mylene sat back down in her seat quickly, so that she wouldn't be caught staring. She smiled at Ivan when he gave her a concerned look to comfort him. Reassured, he smiled and pressed a kiss to her cheek and settled down to have a small nap. Mylene smiled, then let her face settle back into a contemplative stare as she turned her eyes and ears in the direction of Lila's seat. While she couldn't see the popular girl, it comforted her somewhat to have her senses trained on Lila after what just happened. As someone who scared easily, Mylene was familiar with the feeling of danger and actively tried her best to avoid it.

And right now, she felt like there was a predator at her back.

Before she could think much more on it, the peace on the train devolved into chaos as they were unexpectedly taken into space, courtesy of Max's mom being akumatized. And as they followed Ladybug and Chat Noir's instructions to get to safety, Mylene made sure that she was in a place where she could keep an eye on Lila, and made a note to talk to the other girls sans Lila and Marinette. While Marinette certainly hadn't gotten off on the right foot with Lila, Marinette was her friend and based on everything that Marinette had done for her and the class as a whole, Mylene knew that she didn't deserve the look of sheer disdain Lila had given her with when she had been asleep. So while they waited for Ladybug and Chat Noir to save the day once again, Mylene began to do what she now admittedly failed to do when the popular Italian girl first came to their school and when she came back.

Think critically about everything Lila Rossi had said and done.

* * *

When everything was said and done, they'd ended up back in Paris, except this time Adrien was forced to return home instead of making the trip to London with the rest of the class. While unfortunate, they had a memento in the form of the picture Alya had taken of Adrien and Marinette sleeping. Definitely squeal worthy, but not as important as getting the squad together to have a serious talk about what she'd seen.

Mylene's chance came when Lila left to go to the restroom. Sitting up in her seat to get a better angle, she also noticed that Marinette had once again fallen asleep in her seat, Alya still at her side. Another look around showed that Nino was asleep in his seat with his headphones on, Rose and Juleka were awake and chatting, and Alix was playing a game on her phone. Perfect.

Sitting back down in her seat, she pulled out her phone and sent out a group text to Alya, Rose, Juleka, and Alix.

_Text Message_

**Friday 12:42 P.M.**

_**Mylene:** Emergency meeting after we get back to Paris. It's about Marinette and Lila. DO NOT TELL THEM ANYTHING._

She heard their phones ping, and when she peeked her head out into the aisle, she saw them give a nod in confirmation. She nodded back and then put her phone away as she settled back into her seat, and not a moment too soon as she heard the bathroom door in the car open and Lila settle back into her seat. Thankfully for Mylene, Sabrina had been summoned by Chloe earlier and had yet to return to her seat. While Sabrina wasn't necessarily a bad person, there was no way she would have missed the exchange of looks between Mylene and the other girls. And that meant that Chloe would be alerted. They didn't need _that_ kind of problem interrupting their meeting. For now, Mylene settled in and tried to enjoy the ride while it lasted.

Because she was sure that things were gonna get ugly when the meeting started and she tells the others of her suspicions.

* * *

When they returned to Paris, everyone was tired. Even Mme. Bustier had decided to forgo giving them the homework based on the trip, a kind and very appreciated gesture considering the day they had. Mylene had seen Ivan off, forgoing their routine of walking home together in order to meet with the girls. She watched as Alix sat on the steps of the school, the other students having already gone home about an hour or so before they returned to Paris. She saw Alya deliver an exhausted Marinette into her father's arms as he took the pig tailed girl and her bag into the bakery. Mme. Cheng came out soon after he went in, handing a large bag to Alya and exchanging what seemed to be pleasentries before she too headed back into the bakery. Nino had departed soon after they arrived, Alya more than likely notifying him of the meeting. Rose and Juleka were waving goodbye to Max and Kim, who opted to hang out together for the rest of the day to update and play Max's game.

And then there was Lila, who was chatting idly with Mme. Bustier about the trip. Mylene opted to look busy on her phone as she observed them. From what she could see, there was no evidence of the behavior she had seen on the train. Lila seemed completely content and at ease as she talked with their teacher. It was uncanny how she switched so seamlessly into another persona when she thought no one was looking while on the train. Her observation was interrupted as Alya came back, offering Lila and Mme. Bustier whatever treats were in the bag. Mylene paid close attention, and as Mme. Bustier took out a croissant, _there-_!

Mylene, and she was sure Alya noticed based on the change in her expression, watched as Lila's face quickly lost it's smile, morphing into an extremely brief look of disgust before her expression morphed back into it's smile. Mylene was sure that if she had blinked she would have missed it. Noticing Alya's expression change, Mylene saw Lila quickly try to reassure Alya, and then watched as she too retrieved a croissant from the bag. While Mylene couldn't tell what Lila had said due to the distance, she noticed that Alya looked relieved. After that, Lila bid everyone farewell and began walking home.

Mylene realized that this was her chance as she began walking after Lila, careful to keep her steps quiet. Her attempts were foiled as someone put a hand on Mylene's shoulder.

"Mylene? Where are you going? I thought you wanted us to meet up?" Alya said as Mme. Bustier walked away, more than likely going home.

Mylene nodded. "We are, I just need to check something really quick. This concerns the meeting, I'll be right back."

Mylene then bolted after Lila to catch up to her, and was relieved when she caught sight of her walking further down the street. She took out her phone and then began recording, making sure to stay out of sight and keep her footsteps light. As Lila made it to the end of the street, Mylene was suddenly glad that she had had the mind to record as she watched Lila take the croissant that she had kindly been offered, and chuck it unnecessarily hard into the trash bin that was at the corner. Her face was twisted into a sneer, any trace of the previous charming smile completely erased as she dusted off her hands and then resumed the walk home.

Having gotten what she wanted and not wanting to temp fate lest she get caught, Mylene waited a minute or two after Lila had completely left her sight before returning to the school courtyard, where the other girls were waiting for her. Alix had her arms crossed.

"Well," the pink haired girl said. "we're all here waiting. What was so important that you had to run off after Lila?"

Mylene sighed and held up her phone, the recording paused at the beginning and ready to be played. "_This_, is what's so important. I just got some very valuable information."

The others came in close as they got a better look at Mylene's phone.

"And trust me when I say that you are not gonna like what I found."


	2. Chapter 2

As everyone got settled down and began passing along the box of snacks, Mylene began to settle into her default state.

_Wary_.

Despite wanting to share the evidence she'd just gathered, she'd held off, deciding that it would be best if they were in a more secure location rather than stand in front of the empty school. At that point, Mylene realized that while she'd wanted them to gather for a meeting, they hadn't actually _discussed_ or even _agreed_ on the place to do it. Thankfully, Alya, who was more than experienced with half-baked plans and ideas thanks to being Marinette's best friend, easily found the solution.

She suggested her own place in exchange for helping watch over her rowdy younger sisters. It'd just so happened that her mother had an overnight shift at the Grand Paris Hotel, and thanks to a new animal display at the zoo, so would Alya's father. At first, it'd been decided that Alya's older sister Nora would be watching the twins, but after some _Cesaire finesse_, a deal was struck where Nora would have the night off and they would watch the twins while having an impromptu sleepover. A brief period of getting parental consent and gathering their own necessities, and they were all gathered in Alya's living room. The twins had already been put to bed after a while of playing around, and thankfully went down without much of a fuss. With Ella and Etta out of the way, they were now waiting for Mylene to speak, since she was the one to call the meeting.

_Oh joy_, she thought. _All eyes are on me_.

_Yay_.

Thankfully, it was Alix who gave Mylene the opening she was struggling to come up with due to their scrutiny.

"Alright Mylene, you wanted a meeting, you got a meeting. Now what's all this crap about Marinette and Lila that's so bad that we had to keep everything hush hush? And what about that video you didn't let us see? Not to mention following Lila."

The others nodded in agreement, and Mylene took a deep breath in, and let it out. She had to remember that this was bigger than her. This was not just for _her_ friend, but _their_ friend, Marinette, and Mylene felt that she _owed_ it to Marinette for everything she'd done for everyone in this room to fight on her behalf. Especially since...well, they didn't _exactly_ take her seriously and brushed aside her feelings and concerns as nothing but petty jealousy.

This was her chance to make things right.

"I called this meeting, because after seeing some things today, I believe that what Marinette was telling us about Lila is the truth, that she really _is_ a liar and has been lying to us from the very beginning." Mylene said, making sure to look each of them in the eye as she spoke to convey how serious she was being.

A few moments passed, before a snort was heard and raucous laughter filled the room as the other girls began to laugh. None were laughing harder than Alya, who was leaning against Alix to support her weight as she held her stomach with both arms, a tear making it's way down her face.

Alix recovered first, her voice still bubbly with laughter as she pointed to Mylene. "Has Marinette been filling your head with _nonsense_ again? Seriously what'd she say this time, that Lila lied about Jagged stone having a cat? Or her Tinnitus? Come on, Mylene get real."

Mylene watched, saddened and horrified as the other girls agreed with Alix's statement, still somewhat laughing. _Is this how Marinette felt_, she wondered. Is this how Marinette felt when she came to them, _herself included_, to tell them about Lila? Betrayed, sad, and horrified that the people she trusted didn't take her seriously? That no matter what she said, no matter how much longer she'd known them, that it was her word against _Lila's?_

Blinking back tears, Mylene clenched her teeth and her fists. _Oh no_, she thought. Not this time. This time was going to be different, because she was going to _make sure _it was different. To see what Lila truly was, and then not be believed because of pretty words and even _mocked_...

To know that Marinette had gone through this, and that she herself had once participated in it, made her feel deeply ashamed.

And _angry_.

"This isn't a joke! I'm telling the truth!"

Silence followed Mylene's outburst. Of course it did, when was she ever one to yell and be angry? When was she ever the one to command attention and respect?

_Never_, and that's why, as she watched all of the girls straighten up and lose their humor and mirth, Mylene herself began to straigthen up herself. She would not be meek under their stares and their jeers. She would not be dismissed. And most importantly, she wouldn't let them treat _her_ the way they treated _Marinette_.

"Alright Mylene, lets not give Hawk Moth any extra ammo tonight..." Alix said, her eyes glancing around for any sign of butterflies. The others nodded their agreement, their expressions now apprehensive after Mylene's outburst.

Mylene clicked her tongue and glared. "This isn't a game Alix. I'm being serious. Marinette was right. Lila is a liar and things haven't been right ever since she came here."

Alix glared right back, crossing her arms and legs. "And how do you figure that? What did Marinette say to convince you that Lila is a liar? Lila has been nothing but nice since she got here. It ain't fair that she has to be victim to Marinette's stupid jealousy."

"She didn't say anything." Mylene said crossing her arms right back. She wasn't gonna let Alix intimidate her. "Everything that I'm about to tell you, happened today, while Marinette was either alseep or elsewhere. Marinette is _completely innocent _in all of this."

Mylene then turned to Alya, who, despite Mylene's outburst, seemed to still have a bit of humor in her eyes. "Alya, you were sitting next to Marinette before you switched with Adrien, right? You even boarded the train with her if I'm not mistaken."

Alya nodded. "Well yeah, she _is_ my best friend. Poor girl was so tired, and she said that she'd been up late trying to figure out a way to confess to Adrien. She was _so_ happy when I showed her the picture of her and Adrien asleep together." Alya then proceeded to pull out her phone and show said picture, which _of course _was adorable.

All the girls, even Mylene cooed over the picture before Mylene shook herself and began to get serious again. It wouldn't do to get distracted, no matter how cute the picture was. "Okay, do you at any time remember Marinette and Lila interacting during that first train ride to London before Max's mom was akumatized?"

Alya's expression changed as she began to think, her brows furrowing and her lips downturned just a bit before she shook her head in denial. "No, Marinette was pretty much just staring at Adrien before she fell asleep. I walked to our seats with her. Before long she was out like a light."

Rose raised her hand, and Mylene nodded at her to answer. "Mylene, what's the point of all these questions? We all know that Marinette and Adrien fell asleep together. Where does Lila fit in with that?"

Mylene nodded and turned to address them all equally. "This is to establish that Lila and Marinette had no contact during that first train ride, mostly due to Marinette being asleep."

"Yeah, and what's the point of that?" Alix said before grabbing a croissant and taking a large bite, which she then used to point at Mylene. "What does anything about that have to do with Lila?"

Mylene frowned. "It has _everything_ to do with Lila, since while Marinette and Adrien were napping together, Lila glared at Marinette then got up to interrupt them before Alya thankfully stopped her."

Mylene could see the skepticism in their gazes, but it was Juleka who chose to challenge Mylene's words.

"Mylene, we all heard what Lila said. She was just gonna ask Marinette to help her with her motion sickness. That's not really proof that Lila is a liar."

"Oh really? Then why wouldn't she go to the bathroom first if she was feeling nauseous? She was walking pretty fast towards Marinette. If she was actually sick from motion sickness, it would be _pretty bad _if she had gone to Marinette and accidentally puked on her wouldn't it? And if Lila already knew that she gets motion sickness, why didn't she prepare, or even go to Mme. Bustier about her problem? This was the first time we'd _ever_ heard her say she gets motion sickness, and it seems pretty convenient that this illness excuse comes up right when Alya catches her trying to wake Marinette up. But I watched Lila when we went to the last car of the train to safety. Despite floating in space she didn't look nauseous at all. I would think that if she really was motion sick, that her stomach wouldn't have agreed so well with _zero gravity_. But she looked perfectly fine."

Alya rolls her eyes. "So what are you trying to say? That Lila was trying to break up Marinette and Adrien sleeping together?"

Mylene nods. "That's _exactly_ what I'm saying. While we were all thrilled at them being together, Lila was the only one who _wasn't_. I was sitting up in my seat to watch Marinette and Adrien's nap just like the rest of you, but I was the only one who was able to see Lila's reaction clearly. She glared at Marinette the moment she saw her together with Adrien, and then immediately got up to try and wake Marinette up. She even glared at you and Sabrina when your backs were turned, right after she said that Sabrina was being sweet for helping her with her motion sickness."

"But that's impossible," Alya said. "Nino told me, that Lila told him, that she didn't like Adrien like that. Why would she try to break Marinette and Adrien up on the train if she didn't like him romantically? I'm telling you, Marinette's just jealous. She always gets like this when it looks like someone is after Adrien, you all know this. We've seen it."

The others nodded and Mylene glared at Alya, who frowned back uneasily. "Mylene, you're starting to creep me out. What's really going on here?"

"What's going on here, is that you're all treating me like we treated Marinette whenever she told us that Lila was lying. How is it that when Marinette and I, two friends who you've all known _longer_ than Lila say that she's lying, suddenly it's like _we're_ the liars? You're dismissing both Marinette and I's feelings and the evidence that I have-"

"What evidence?" Alya said, crossing her arms. "Because all I'm hearing is everything Marinette was telling us, and even then she couldn't prove anything. I'm telling you, I know that girl. This is just jealousy. She'll get over it and see that Lila is cool."

As the others began to agree with Alya, Mylene realized the truth in what Alya said. Marinette had been prone to jealousy in the past. It was just a fact, but that fact made all the difference as Mylene put on her most serious face and addressed all of them.

"If everything you're saying about Marinette is true, then what's _my_ motive?"

Alya turned back towards Mylene, a confused frown on her face. "What do you mean what's your motive?"

"I mean, _Alya_," Mylene said. "What's my motive for siding with Marinette? It can't be that I like Adrien. We all know that I love Ivan and have never even thought of Adrien that way. So I can't be jealous of Lila like you claim Marinette is. In fact, I was right there with you all dismissing Marinette's claims whenever she told us Lila was a liar. And we've all established that Marinette was sleeping and had no prior contact with Lila before Lila attempted to wake Marinette up. I certainly didn't speak to Lila, and she didn't say anything to me. What reason do I have to turn against Lila and side with Marinette Alya? And you also talk about proof, but what proof do _you_ have that Lila _isn't_ a liar? Did you ever check out any of what she was telling you for your blog?"

Alya looked smug and was opened her mouth to speak before pausing and closing it, a contemplative look on her face. She looked up at Mylene, who just crossed her arms and smiled a bit, smug and confident. "Don't worry, I'll wait. Take all the time you need."

Alya frowned but went back to thinking. Everyone watched Alya's face morph into different emotions. Contemplation, annoyance, frustration, the last, and something Mylene had been hoping to see.

_Doubt_.

Alya looked around at the others, finally appearing to be done thinking, and all former traces from her earlier humor were now completely gone. "Girls, Mylene has a point."

Alix, Juleka and Rose looked at each other before Alix turned back to Alya. "What do you mean? Don't tell me you buy this."

"I mean," Alya said, frowning a bit. "that Mylene doesn't have a motive. She was right, she doesn't like Adrien and loves Ivan. I certainly don't remember her talking to Lila during that first train ride, nor the second one either. In fact, I remember her sticking close to Ivan during the entire trip..."

"And I stuck with Ivan the entire trip, before _and_ after what I saw go down. I kept my eye on Lila after that. After what I saw, just being around her gives me the creeps."

"Oh come on!" Alix said, throwing her hands up in frustration. "That's going too far Mylene. Lila gives you the creeps now? I'm not buying it. You know what, I'll give one major motive as to why you're saying this, you're Marinette's friend. Look, I understand you want to stick up for Marinette, but I'm telling you this is just more of her shenanigans. We've never seen any evidence of what Marinette was accusing Lila of, and she's never been able to prove any of her accusations. Lets also not forget how she treated Kagami either when she came along. Face it Mylene, Marinette's nonsense is getting to you."

Mylene was about to was about to speak but before she could, a quiet voice interrupted her.

"Are you saying that you _aren't_ Marinette's friend, Alix?"

Everyone's heads turned to Juleka, who was staring Alix down with a deep frown on her face. Alix, who was looking as shocked as everyone else was by Juleka's question, glared at her. "That's crazy! Of course Marinette is my friend!"

"Well based on what you're saying and how you're saying it, it certainly doesn't _sound_ like Marinette is your friend." Mylene said, crossing her arms.

"Oh come on, you know what I meant! I love Marinette just like everyone else here does. I just don't believe what she's been saying about Lila. I don't know what you saw on the train Mylene, but I'm sure you're mistaken."

Rose, who was grasping Juleka's hand, spoke next. "But, if we're Marinette's friends, shouldn't we at least give her the benefit of the doubt? She's never even been like this with Chloe, and Chloe is mean! Marinette has always been there for us when we needed help, or at least tries to. We owe it to her to at least hear her out, and we haven't been doing that. And speaking of Kagami, didn't Marinette help Adrien on his date with Kagami, and make up with her on Friendship Day?"

"That's...actually true." Alya said as she tapped quickly on her phone and showed Marinette's Instagram, where there was a picture of her and Kagami together getting juice after the city wide game had ended. "Even when we were plotting to get her and Adrien together when he went to London with Kagami, she didn't go through with it and tried to confess by herself. I mean, it didn't end like she wanted but as far as we know, she didn't even speak to Kagami then..."

"Well...I guess that's true.." Alix said. "But if she could make up with Kagami, why can't she do the same with Lila?"

"Well..." Alya said, frowning a bit. "When Lila came back, Marinette was telling me and Nino that on Lila's first day, she followed Adrien and Lila. She was pretty adamant about Lila being a liar, and that's never changed..."

"Really?" Rose said. "Did she tell you anything else about why she followed them?"

Alya shook her head, her gaze on her hands in her lap. "Well, no...She didn't get a chance to finish because me and Nino interrupted her, and that's when that whole napkin thing happened..."

"I remember that." Mylene said as she looked down in shame. "I thought Marinette was being mean and chewed her out with Kim...She looked so hurt and frustrated that we didn't believe her and then just walked off..."

"You know," Alya said as her face became contemplative. "Now that I'm thinking it about it, that whole napkin thing was kind of weird."

"What do you mean?" said Alix, who now seemed to be more open to accepting that things weren't adding up.

"Well, I mean, napkins weigh nothing. And when Marinette called out Lila about her wrist, Lila kinda just looked around at everyone for a few seconds, and then _that's_ when she dropped the napkin and showed that she was in pain...Then there was that whole thing about the napkin gouging out eyes and..."

Alya's frown deepened, her face turning into one of skepticism..."Wait that doesn't even make _sense_...The napkin wasn't even aimed at Max, and he wears glasses..."

Rose looked at Juleka, as she too began to frown. "Come to think of it, that delayed reaction to catching the napkin doesn't seem right. I remember _believing_ Marinette about Lila faking it before she told that story about that napkin."

Juleka nodded. "When Lila looked around at everyone, it was almost like she was _scared_ that we believed Marinette..."

Mylene mentally cheered. This was what she wanted. They were thinking critically now about everything Lila had said and done. She needed them to see the inconsistencies for themselves so that they would have no doubt about what she was telling them.

"Look, some things are weird, I understand that. But there's still no proof that Lila is lying or that she has it out for Marinette." Alix said. _Though_, Mylene thought, _it does look like what everyone was saying was getting through to Alix_. She looked unsure, and even now Mylene could see that Alix was mentally going over things in her head. Her eyes were troubled and her fists were clenched.

It looked like it was finally time to bring out the video. But first...

"Speaking of proof," Mylene said. "Alya, what did Lila say to you before she took a croissant? I know you saw that look on her face before she took one."

All eyes turned to Alya. "What look?" Juleka said as she clutched Rose's hand even tighter.

"When I offered Lila and Mme. Bustier a croissant, Lila had this look on her face like she was grossed out. But then she apologized and said that her stomach still wasn't completely settled from the train ride, so she wasn't too keen on food. She took one anyway and said that she'll eat it at home when her stomach feels better, and that she was excited to finally try one of the Dupain-Cheng's famous pastries. Then she went home."

Alix nodded and looked a bit relieved. "See Mylene? Lila just wasn't feeling well. She was even excited to try out Marinette's family's pastries."

_This_..._This was her chance _Mylene realized, before pulling out her phone and going to the video. She then reached for the remote, turned on the T.V., and connected her phone to it.

"I'm sorry Alix," Mylene said as she pressed play, the video playing on the T.V. "but I _highly_ doubt Lila was as excited as she said she was."

They all watched as Lila walked to the end of the street, took the croissant that she was given in kindness and said she was _so_ excited to try when she felt better, and chuck it violently into the garbage can. They saw her face change into something they didn't recognize, a sneer that could curdle dairy, and eyes that could make anyone cower. They saw as she looked satisfied with what she'd done and continued on her way home, unaware that her true self had been caught on video.

Unaware that she had been unmasked as the _villain_ instead of the _victim_ she made herself out to be.

And as Mylene looked at each of the girl's faces, she could tell that they finally, _finally_, believed her.

"Hey, is that Lila on T.V.?"

Everyone's heads turned to the voices, and saw that it was Ella and Etta, who were sleepily rubbing their eyes.

Alya got up then and went to them, trying to coax them back into bed. "Come on girls, you know it's too late for you to be up."

"Awww," they said as they began following Alya's lead back to their bedroom. "we wanna watch Lila's movie too!"

Alya paused then and shook her head. "That's not a movie."

"But Lila said she knows movie stars!" Etta said as she crossed her arms. Ella adopted the same stance as well before speaking. "Yeah, and when is she coming over again? We want a rematch at her game!"

"What game?" Alix said as she and the others, including Mylene, came to stand next to Alya.

"Her rap game! The one Alya played with Marinette!" They said in unison.

Alya seemd to freeze then, before frowning and kneeling down in front of Ella and Etta. "You mean Freestyle Clash? Lila told you that she made that game?"

"Well," Etta said. "She didn't tell _us_."

"Yeah, she told Chris when he was here." Ella said.

Mylene saw Alya's hand begin to tremble before she curled it into a fist and relaxed it. She stood up, and then began leading the twins back to their bedroom again. "I'll ask Lila about coming over again. For now, back to bed." Alya said, as the twins entered their bedroom and she closed the door after them.

She stood in front of their door for a few moments, her head bowed and her hair shielding her expression from them, before suddenly turning around, her eyes full of righteous fury. She whipped out her phone tapped a few times and put it to her ear.

"Wait," Mylene said with horror. Was Alya actually gonna _call Lila?! _"Alya who are-"

Alya's hand went up, cutting off Mylene as whoever she was calling finally picked up.

"Marinette? Hey, the girls and I are at my house for a sleepover. Think you can come over? Cuz we need to _talk_."


	3. Chapter 3

The Fog is Lifting CHAPTER 3

* * *

Mylene and the other girls sat on the couch as they waited for Marinette to arrive. She'd initially been confused since she'd had no idea that the rest of them were at Alya's apartment, but decided that Alya's insistence that they talk and the seriousness of her voice was more important. It was close to ten at night by the time Alya called her, so they'd thought that Marinette might not get permission to come over. The Dupain-Chengs however, in their unending kindness, had given Marinette the O.K. to come over.

So they waited, and as they did, Mylene looked around at her friends' faces as they, from the looks of things, thought over every interaction, every claim, every expression, every action...Everything that Lila Rossi has ever done since she first started attending their school.

She watched as Rose pulled out her phone and began texting, her normally optimistic and smiling face troubled as she stared at the screen. Juleka, always at her side, had an arm wrapped around Rose as she too stared at the screen, a silent comfort for the apprehension Mylene was sure Rose was feeling.

She observed Alya, who had brought her laptop into the living room and was going over some the interviews of Lila that she uploaded to the Ladybug. She had her headphones plugged in, mercifully sparing the others from hearing Lila's claims as she wrote furiously in a notebook next to her. Mylene was worried that Alya might attract an akuma since the expression she had on her face was _frightening_.

Alix didn't give much away in terms of how she was feeling, but Mylene has known Alix a long time and knew what to look for. The slight downturn of her lips, the stiffness of her shoulders, the tautness of her jaw. But besides the anger she could see there, there was confusion. Mylene didn't think that was unusual, considering that Alix was the last one to even consider that Lila was lying to them. And based on what she was seeing, she could see that Alix was on the fence.

_Not that that was a bad thing_, Mylene thought. The reality was, she knew that she wouldn't be able to totally convince everyone. And that's good. It wasn't her place to totally convince them. Even _she_ didn't have all of the answers or evidence needed to do that. But she had enough to plant the seeds of doubt, and that's what made her discovery earlier so important.

She was an outside party, one who had been on the "opposing side" in a sense. She had been like them, believed everything Lila said without question and dismissive of Marinette's claims. It was hard to believe someone they thought was already guilty when she had no one to back her up. _However_, Mylene thought. She herself didn't have any motives to suddenly switch sides, and even though it took a bit, she was able to convince them that things weren't quite as kosher as Lila had initially made them believe.

_And what luck_, Mylene thought. As it turns out, Lila hadn't just lied at school. She'd also been lying to Alya and Nino's younger siblings. _And that's what made Lila so sinister_, Mylene thought. She didn't stop at trying to manipulate her classmates and people at school, she also tried manipulating _small children_, who were impressionable and didn't have enough sense to investigate what she said. She didn't even need to, but she did it anyway. In the end, however, it seems that that particular decision might just have backfired on Lila, and given Mylene the extra witnesses she needed to convince them even more about Lila's dishonesty.

Despite the sinister lengths Lila had gone to to get small children on her side, knowing that they didn't have sense to investigate what she said, it also gave Mylene's side of the story more evidence. Because with the same sense they didn't have to investigate Lila's claims, they also didn't have the sense to _keep their mouths shut about it. _

_After all_, Mylene thought, _children don't know the meaning of discretion_. And if they try to keep secrets, they are so obvious about it that people immediately know they are hiding something. Add in the fact that there were not one, not two, but _three _children who heard Lila's lies, it would be hard to convince people that what they had to say wasn't true or that their claims had no merit.

_It's funny_, Mylene thought, that evidence crucial to Lila's comeuppance for lying would come from the mouths of babes. It's also funny because it proves that Lila doesn't have any siblings, otherwise she would have learned that younger children are _relentless tattletales_, intentional or otherwise.

And Lila _definitely_ got tattled on.

But she knew even that wouldn't be enough. They needed the kind of convincing that only someone who had suffered the consequences of Lila's manipulations directly could deliver. Someone who never wavered in their convictions and certainty about Lila's dishonesty.

They needed _Marinette_.

A few knocking sounds startled everyone from their thoughts and turned their attention to the door. Alya swiftly went to the door and opened it, revealing Marinette and her father, who was holding a large take-out bag in one hand, and a large bag stamped with their bakery logo in the other. Alya greeted them and invited them in. Marinette greeted them and went to set her overnight bag in Alya's room and change into her pajamas, while her dad sat the bag of take-out, Chinese if the mouth watering smell that was quickly filling the apartment was anything to go by, on the counter along with the bag from their bakery.

"Didn't know if you girls had eaten yet, so I brought snacks from the bakery and on the way here I ordered Chinese."

"Thanks Mr. Dupain-Cheng." Alya said, a small weary smile on her face. "To be honest, we only had those pastries Mme. Dupain-Cheng gave us earlier for dinner. My older sister Nora was supposed to cook for and watch the twins while my parents had the night shifts at work, but my parents and I made a deal that gave Nora the night off and allowed us to have a sleepover. Everything was so last minute that we didn't think of a viable dinner option. We definitely appreciate it."

The other girls came over, all voicing their thanks and Tom laughed, waving them off.

"It's no problem." He said, and began removing the various containers from the bag, the delicious smell becoming even more potent. As he did, the girls began taking out plates and began to set the table. He removed the various sauce packets at the bottom of the bag along with plastic utensils and fortune cookies, before disposing of the bag and turning back to them.

"Well girls, I'm gonna head out. But before I go, can I ask you all a question?"

The girls all turned to each other, confused, before they all turned back to him and nodded their consent.

"How come you're only inviting Marinette to the sleepover _now_, and not earlier?"

Nearly all of the girls looked a bit ashamed at his question, but Mylene took this as her chance to explain as much as she could.

"There's been some...drama between Marinette and the new girl in our class, Lila Rossi. Marinette is certain that Lila hasn't been honest with us and at first we thought that it wasn't a big deal because Marinette didn't have much proof on her side. But today on our trip to see Big Ben, I saw something that proved that Marinette might be right. When I did, I organized a meeting between most of the girls in our class, Marinette and Lila excluded because I wanted to share what I had learned without any possible bias from either of them."

Tom nodded, and Mylene sighed before continuing on.

"When I set the meeting, I didn't count on an akuma attack taking us to space and then us ending up back in Paris. We had to ride the train back to London and by the time we got back to school, it had been over for a while. Marinette was so tired that Alya took her home, and by the time we had a chance to start talking, we realized that we hadn't actually planned on what place to meet up. That's why the sleepover was so last minute. After babysitting for a while we began to talk, and it was after we did that Alya decided that we needed Marinette here to clarify some of the things she'd been saying that Lila was being dishonest about."

Mylene stepped forward a bit before speaking again. "I know it seems like we were excluding Marinette to be mean, but I can _promise_ you Mr. Dupain-Cheng, that's not _at all _what is happening here. Our only objective here is to get to the truth the fairest way possible, since in the past we haven't done that."

Tom nodded again, his brow furrowed in thought. "I see..."

"Dad? Is everything okay?"

All eyes turned to Marinette, who was now in her pajamas, her hair loose from her signature pigtails.

Tom smiled and shook his head. "Everything is just fine cupcake. I was just about to head out, but there's no way I'm leaving without a hug from my favorite girl."

Marinette grinned. "You're only saying that so I'll go easy on you the next time we play UMS."

"_Bah! _I let you win last time because I had bread in the oven." Tom said as he crossed his arms.

"You _always_ say that when you lose."

"I'm a _baker_, I always have bread in the oven."

"_Not after closing hours_."

"Oh _shush_ and give me a hug." Tom said as he opened his arms.

Marinette laughed before walking over and hugging her father, who returned the hug with gusto, picking Marinette off the floor as she gave a small shriek in surprise before finally putting her down and releasing her from the hug. Everyone laughed as Marinette huffed, not an ounce of anger on her face as she too began to laugh. When everyone had calmed down, Tom sighed and smiled.

"Well, I won't stay in your hair any longer. Enjoy your dinner and have a good night girls!"

Once everyone had said their goodbyes and Mr. Dupain-Cheng had departed, everyone got their hands washed and made their plates of food before getting settled at the table. By the time they got to that point, the jovial mood that Tom had brought with him had all but disappeared. At first, there was nothing but the sound of utensils hitting plates as the girls ate. But eventually the tension and seriousness of the situation became too much to ignore as Marinette set down her fork and looked at the other girls.

"So, you all wanted to talk." Marinette said as she leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms.

Mylene looked around, and noticed how everyone tensed up, none more than Alya, whose earlier fury at her sisters being lied to began to re-emerge. Mylene knew that Alya's fury wasn't going to be helpful, and seeing the disaster about to happen, decided to be the one to break the ice.

"We wanted to talk because I discovered some disturbing things about Lila today, during and after our class trip."

Marinette's eyes widened, before settling into a serious expression that did nothing to hide her eagerness as she leaned forward in her seat. "What did you find?"

"_First_," Mylene said. "We want to hear your side of the story. Alya said that you tried to tell her and Nino about how you followed Lila on her first day of school. We want to know what happened, and don't spare any details."

Marinette looked a bit shocked for a moment, but the determined look came back as she took a deep breath, let it out, straightened up in her seat, and folded her hands on the table.

"Okay, when I got to school that day, the first thing I heard was Rose talking about how a girl named Lila knew Prince Ali and had flown in his private jet with him. Then I see Chloe stomping passed, complaining about why Jagged Stone wrote a song about Lila instead of her. Then Nino passed by and was talking about knowing that famous director that Nino is a fan of. When I got to Alya, I asked what was going on and that's when she showed me the interview she'd posted on her blog. When I noticed Lila with Adrien, I will admit I was jealous. However I was skeptical of all the things she had been claiming before I'd even seen her and Adrien together. Alya had walked off, talking about how high her views were because of Lila's interview, so I was alone afterward. When they went into the library I followed them. They appeared at first to be starting their homework but then Adrien pulled out a book, which ended up being the one he got pulled out of school over."

Marinette sighed, taking a small break before speaking again.

"She snatched the book away from him and began looking through it, asking him what it was. When he told her it was a book about superheroes, she said that she loved superheroes. When Lila turned the page to an illustration of an ancient Ladybug Miraculous holder, Adrien was talking about how awesome Ladybug was. Lila frowned for a second and then said that a girl doesn't need to wear a costume to be amazing. Lila said that Adrien had a soft spot for Ladybug, and then claimed to be close friends with her. When Adrien looked interested, she suggested that they could talk about it and told him to meet her at the park so she could tell him everything. I had been hiding behind a book cart and when I tried to stand up, I slipped and fell. The cart went flying into the wall, and I hid under the table so I wouldn't get caught."

Marinette looked guilty then, her head bowed as she fiddled with her fingers. "It's not my _proudest_ moment, and even now I'm ashamed to have even done it..." Marinette lifted her head then, her eyes blazing with determination. "But while I may feel ashamed about it, I certainly don't regret it. That day changed everything."

"What do you mean that day changed everything Marinette?" Rose asked.

Marinette's determined look faltered for a moment at Rose's question, before settling into a contemplative expression. "That day showed just how far Lila was willing to go to make her stories seem credible."

"Anyway," Marinette said as she straightened back up into her chair. "After Lila suggested meeting Adrien in the park to talk about Ladybug, Adrien's fencing alarm went off and they started to put their things away. When Adrien turned around, he had been startled by Lila standing behind him and dropped his bag on the floor. The book had fallen out of it, and while Lila asked Adrien to confirm their meeting, she took her foot and moved the book behind her. Adrien hadn't even noticed that the book was missing when he picked up his bag and ran off to be in time for his fencing lesson. After he left, Lila picked up the book and mentioned a fox superhero and how it was interesting."

"I followed after her, and at one point she stopped inside of a jewelry store. She was in there for quite a while before she came out with a bag. When she got to the park she sat down on a bench and pulled whatever she bought at the jewelry store out of the bag. When she opened the box, there was a fox tail necklace."

Alya gasped, and the other girls sans Marinette looked to Alya in confusion. Mylene's interest was peaked. Alya tried to reassure them that she was just shocked, but Mylene could tell that it was more than just shock. What Marinette said had impacted Alya far more than it should have. Marinette cleared her throat, sipping a bit at the glass of water she'd had with her dinner. Mylene and the others turned their attention back to Marinette, but Mylene stored Alya's reaction into a mental folder. Whatever reason for Alya's reaction, it could prove useful to helping clear Marinette.

After Marinette finished sipping her water, she continued speaking.

"After she opened the box and tried it on, she'd only had a moment to admire it before she suddenly stood up, grabbed the book and hid it behind her back. Neither of us had seen Adrien arrive, and as he got closer, Lila decided to get rid of the evidence of her theft by throwing the book into the garbage bin that had been behind her. I managed to get closer, and when Adrien asked if she knew Ladybug for real, she said that not only did Ladybug save her life, they had become very close friends, because they have something very special in common."

Marinette frowned, gritting her teeth a bit before continuing on.

"And that's when she claimed that she was a descendant of a vixen superheroin called Volpina."

This time, all of the girls gasped before looking at each other. It was no surprise why, really. Because each of those girls knew that Volpina was an akuma who claimed to be a superhero before being defeated by Ladybug and Chat Noir.

And that the person who was Volpina was _Lila_.

Mylene filed it away as more evidence that Lila was a liar. They still had to verify Marinette's side of the story, but so far, it appeared that Marinette was telling them the truth.

Marinette continued on, brushing passed their shock.

"When Adrien claimed that he might have read about her in the book, and went to his bag to get the book, Lila stopped him. She started claiming that of course Volpina was in the book, and that she was one of the most important superheroes, more powerful and celebrated than Ladybug. She even said that Ladybug didn't even make the top ten. She showed Adrien the necklace, claiming that her grandmother had given it to her, and he asked if it was a miraculous."

Mylene frowned, as did the rest of the girls when they heard what Marinette said. Lila had been claiming that she was Ladybug's best friend. If Marinette's story could be verified, Lila's credibility would crumble, and would more than likely never recover. Bad-mouthing a classmate was one thing. Bad-mouthing a superhero was an entirely new level of bad.

"And that's when Ladybug showed up."

The girls gasped as Alix frowned. "What do you mean Ladybug showed up? You can't expect us to believe that Ladybug really came there."

Marinette looked at Alix, not backing down a bit. "You don't have to believe me Alix, but you all asked to hear my side of the story, and I'm giving it to you. All I will say, is that I have proof that this happened."

Alix reluctantly backed off, and Marinette continued on.

"Anyway, when Ladybug showed up, she was really mad. She went off on Lila and exposed her for lying. Lila looked really embarrassed, and when Adrien said that he guessed that she wasn't actually everything she had claimed, Ladybug said that she was more of a super liar. That's when Lila screamed 'how dare you!' at Ladybug before grabbing her things and running off. Adrien was a bit upset that Ladybug had exposed Lila that way, and Ladybug told him firmly that she didn't put up with lies, especially when they were about her. Then she left."

Marinette sighed before looking to the side.

"At first, I felt kinda bad for Lila as she was getting chewed out by Ladybug. But when Lila screamed back at Ladybug, like it was Ladybug's fault and not her own for lying , any sympathy I felt died. How could she possibly blame Ladybug for exposing her? If Lila hadn't been lying, she wouldn't have gotten chewed out. She lied about a public figure and thought that she would get away with it scott-free."

Marinette's fists clenches on the table as she scowls, her eyes firmly looking at her now cold food.

"But what she doesn't understand, or care about, is that her lies have consequences. One of those was her being caught and exposed. She's honestly _lucky_ that Ladybug only humiliated her in front of Adrien and not a whole bunch of people. Other people would have done much worse like sued her for libel or slander. She got off a lot easier than most do in my opinion, but instead of learning from the experience and coming clean, she continues to lie despite already experiencing the consequences of getting caught. Other consequences are people being hurt when she can't keep all the false promises she makes to people. That's what she's good at. She targets people and their interests in order to dazzle them, and doesn't care about who she might hurt as long as she gets the attention she wants and the recognition for things she _falsely_ believes she deserves without doing _any work_."

Marinette's head lifts and she talks directly to the girls, trying as hard as she can to try and make her point stick.

"Her lying might not be as severe in any other place, but we're in _Paris_, where Hawk Moth can turn any bad day or negative emotion into a weapon-weapons that can be and have been _fatal_ to a lot of people if not for Ladybug's Miraculous Ladybug at the end of each akuma battle. Imagine how many people she's made promises to regarding their passions just in our class alone? Imagine how many opportunities that is for Hawk Moth to akumatize them just because she falsely promised them an amazing opportunity, or claimed she had the connections to make someone's dreams come true, or even that she had a connection to someone that was widely loved or important?"

"...Like Prince Ali?" Rose said, her hand gripping Juleka's.

"Or Ladybug?" Alya said, her eyes guiltily shifting over to her laptop, one of Lila's interviews still paused on the screen.

Marinette's eyes softened as she reached across the table to pat their hands. "Hey, I didn't say all of that to make you guys feel bad. I said it because the severity of Lila's actions need to be known. In my book, you're all victims of her lies. You're all my friends, and I care about you all a lot. I know it seems like I was just being crazy jealous of Lila, but I'm telling you now, that's not that case. I will admit I was jealous in the beginning, but any jealousy immediately died when I found out what kind of person she is. I'm so crazy about exposing her because she's leading you all on by the nose, and I would never sit idly by while someone does that to people I care about. I may not have gone about it the right way at first, and while I am still hurt that I wasn't taken seriously, that's not going to stop me from trying to do the right thing. And the right thing is protecting my friends from someone who only wants to take advantage of their kindness for their own self-believed glory."

Mylene smiled a bit, and as she looked around the table at the others, she could tell that what Marinette said was getting through to them and sticking. Just like she thought before, all of the other evidence they came across paled in comparison to Marinette's testimony.

Marinette sighed before retracting her hands to fold them in front of her again, her posture more relaxed than it was in the beginning. "Anyway, to continue where I left off, after Ladybug chewed Lila out, I had been so shocked at everything going on, that I missed Adrien leaving. I took the opportunity to get the book out of the garbage bin. There hadn't been much in the bin, but I took the book home so that I could clean it and then return it to Adrien. Lila ended getting akumatized into Volpina, and then she got defeated. If I had known that the whole thing with his dad getting akumatized would happen, I would have texted Adrien that I had found the book. I had no idea that the book belonged to his dad. I was just trying my best to clean anything that had gotten onto the book, so that meant I had to go through every single page to make sure nothing gross got jammed in between the pages when it was tossed in the bin. I returned the book, but instead of telling Adrien's dad that Lila stole it, I took the fall for it."

Alix frowned. "Why would you do that? You could have gotten into major trouble!"

Marinette winced. "I was trying to be nice! I figured Lila had gotten into enough trouble for one day after being exposed and then akumatized, and I felt that I shouldn't make her day even worse. Of course if I had known what kind of person she really was, I would have _absolutely_ ratted her out."

"Okay so, if what you're telling us is true, I can understand your anger towards Lila." Alix said, as she rested her head into her right hand, drumming her fingers with her left. Mylene had been waiting for that breakthrough. It seems like Marinette's testimony along with the other evidence had pushed Alix more on Marinette's side of the fence than Lila's.

"However," Alix continued. "That doesn't explain what Mylene saw on the train. Based on what you've told us so far, it seems that Lila wasn't even aware that you were there when Ladybug supposedly chewed Lila out. What's her beef with you?"

Mylene paused. _That_, she thought. That was something she hadn't quite figured out. That hostility towards Marinette couldn't all because of Adrien. The outright _vitriol _that Lila had glared at Marinette with while she'd been asleep, and the force that Lila had thrown away the croissant from the Dupain-Cheng Bakery told of something that went deeper than just two girl competing for a boy's attention. Turning her attention back to Marinette, Mylene became startled.

Marinette's entire posture had changed. Instead of the serious one she had in the beginning, or even the relaxed one she'd had just moments ago, now the posture she had was one Mylene was intimately familiar with.

_Fear._

Marinette had gone from relaxed to afraid, her shoulders hunched in as she tried to make herself appear smaller. Her hands were no longer folded in front of her. Instead, they were now in her lap, the small movements in her arms indicating that she was picking at her nails-a nervous tick that she'd had for years due to Chloe's bullying, but hadn't done in a long time.

The fact that Marinette was scared enough to revert back to a harmful behavior that she'd grown out of was more than enough for Mylene to act.

"Marinette, _hands_."

In an instant, Marinette's hands stopped moving, and after a moment she took a few deep breaths before sitting up in her seat, her posture caught between relaxed and rigid. "Thanks Mylene, you saved my cuticles. The nail technician would have had a fit the next time I went to get my nails done."

Marinette smiled, but after a moment she could tell that her smile wasn't fooling anyone and the smile turned wry. "Swing and a miss huh?"

"Marinette," Mylene said, her fists lightly clenched. "Is there anything that happened between you and Lila that you haven't told us about?"

Marinette's head shot up and her eyes widened. Her fists began to clench but before they could, Mylene reached over with both hands and gently held hers. "Something did happen, didn't it..."

"I'm scared..." Marinette said.

"Whatever happened with Lila Marinette, it's okay. _I believe you_, and I'm sure the others will too. You don't have to be scared of Lila."

"I'm _not_ scared of Lila! I'm scared that you won't believe me!" Marinette said as she ripped her hands away from Mylene and stood up, turning her backs to them. Her arms were straight at her sides with her fists clenched. The other girls were startled and taken aback at Marinette's outburst, but didn't have long to ponder Marinette's words before she started speaking again.

"I'm scared that if I tell what happened, after you guys finally started listening to what I had to say about Lila, that you'll just go right back to not believing me. That everything I had to say would have been for _nothing_."

"Marinette, _I promise _that won't happen." Mylene said, standing up and gently taking Marinette's hand again. Mylene looked towards the other girls, prompting them to say something.

Alya took the initiative first by standing up and circling the table to stand on Marinette's other side, also taking her hand. "I promise too Marinette. There's _no way _I'm just gonna flip back to not believing you. There's too much evidence _without_ your side of the story in my opinion that tells me that Lila is up to no good. You can count on me."

Alix, Rose and Juleka followed up with their own reassurances, all of them surrounding Marinette as she tried her best to calm down. Mylene kept a subtle eye out for butterflies. Everyone in that room had been vulnerable for quite a while because of this situation, but Mylene wasn't gonna let Hawk Moth get a chance to use their emotions against them. After a few moments, Marinette's posture began to relax. When she was finally ready she sighed and shooed them all back to their seats before taking her own. After a few more deep breaths, no doubt stalling, Marinette finally told them.

"The day Lila came back, she threatened me."

Mylene's blood thundered in her ears, her eyes barely catching on to the reactions of the other girls. Juleka's wide-eyed stare, and Rose's hands covering her mouth. Alix's shaking fists, and Alya's eyes filled with righteous fury.

Mylene herself, however, was _terrified. _

Terrified because just _one girl _caused this. _One girl_, who hadn't even been there very long, was able to cause this much hurt, and pain, and terror with mostly just words. They were all startled out of their thoughts by Marinette speaking.

"Girls, it's okay."

Alix responded first, confusion beginning to outweigh the anger. "Okay? _Okay?! _How could that _possibly_ be okay?!"

Marinette shushed her, patting one of her clenched fists. "Don't yell, you're gonna wake up the twins. But to answer your question, it's okay because now you guys believe me. It bothered me a lot at first, enough that I had almost been akumatized that day. But in the end I was able to remember that Hawk Moth only akumatizes people who think that there's no solution. But that's not how I am. The akuma left me alone but ended up akumatizing Lila for some reason."

Juleka frowned. "You were almost akumatized?"

"Yeah." Marinette said as she retracted her hands.

"Where did Lila threaten you Marinette?" Alya said, who had brought over her laptop without any of them noticing.

"It was in the girl's bathroom, right after that whole napkin debacle in the cafeteria on the day she came back."

"Lila did leave only a few moments after Marinette did that day..." Rose said.

"She said she was gonna go to the nurse..." Juleka said as she looked at Rose.

"Well I can tell you that's not where she went." Marinette said as she crossed her arms. "She came to the bathroom after me and tried to pretend to make nice, saying that she would help me get with Adrien. When I called her out on her crap, she started saying all of this stuff about how she was only telling people what they liked to hear. That's when she said that if I didn't want to be her friend that it was fine, but that soon I would have no friends and that she'd make sure I wouldn't get near Adrien at school or anywhere. Then she said, and these are _her_ words _not mine_, that I seemed a little less dumb than the others and that she was gonna give me one last chance. She said she would give me until the end of the day and then she left. After school, right after I said goodbye to Alya and Nino, she turned up behind me, said it seemed like I'd made my choice, then threatened me again. She said that from now on, she and I were at war and that I would lose all of my friends and that Adrien would soon be hers."

"_Oh my God_..." Alya said as she covered her mouth. "I saw Lila standing there, but I didn't think anything of it. If I had walked Marinette home, or at least acknowledged that Lila was standing there..."

"She would have more than likely backed off." Marinette said. "Lila always likes to put on a happy face when others are around. She would never knowingly risk someone seeing how she truly is, because it would ruin everything she's 'worked' for. It's why both of the times she confronted me, we were totally alone. Unfortunately, because Lila likes to ambush people, it means that it'll be difficult to prepare for her nonsense. And it also means that I have no proof of her threats besides my word."

"No, I'd say you have plenty of proof." Alix said. "I mean, as much as it hurts to admit, her threats were actually coming true. I mean, if it hadn't been for Lila slipping up and Mylene noticing..."

Despite Alix trailing off, everyone knew what the words left unspoken meant. If Lila hadn't slipped up, _they would have never believed Marinette. _

Rose gasped, startling them all. "Wait! There's someone we're forgetting! Someone who knows about Lila!"

"Uh, you mean Ladybug?" Alya said. "I guess I could ask Ladybug-"

"No no! _Adrien! _We're forgetting _Adrien!_ Marinette told us he was there when Ladybug exposed Lila. If we can get Adrien to corroborate her side of the story, then he can help convince everyone else about Lila!"

The girls began to get excited at the prospect of more evidence against Lila, and Mylene couldn't help but share that excitement. Like Mylene, Adrien wouldn't have any motive to be against Lila. To their knowledge, Adrien had been nothing but kind to Lila, and his word would be a very welcomed strike against Lila's gas lighting and attempts to turn people's own words against them, like she'd done to Marinette.

"I...wouldn't count on it." Marinette said, sighing as she sank a bit into her seat. "He knows that Lila is lying, but he'd rather we take the highroad instead of exposing her. He said that if we humiliated her, she'll just be hurt more."

"But...But that's _insane!_" Alya said as she frowned. "How could he _possibly_ let Lila continue on after knowing she lied to all of us and after knowing that she threatened you?!"

Marinette went silent then, her eyes drifting off to the side. Mylene's eyes narrowed and she stepped closer to Marinette as Marinette subtley inched away.

"Marinette, look me in the eye and tell me you didn't."

The others were confused for a moment before Alya's eyes seemed to widen and then narrow at Marinette. "Marinette...You _did_ tell Adrien that Lila threatened you..._Right_?"

At Alya's question, Alix, Rose and Juleka's eyes all turned to Marinette, who shrunk down even more. Mylene spoke again. "Marinette, look me in the eye and tell me you didn't keep quiet to Adrien about Lila threatening you."

"I can't!" Marinette exclaimed as she threw up her arms. "I can't because I didn't tell him!"

"Marinette how could you keep quiet!" Alya hissed, her phone already in her hand. Mylene could already guess that Alya was two seconds away from either texting or calling Adrien and telling him everything.

"I was trying to give Lila another chance. Adrien was so sure that Lila would just corner herself with her lies and I get what he's saying, but I also know that it won't work because even if she gets exposed on her own, she's gonna be humiliated and angry just as much as if we had exposed her sooner. Taking the highroad just makes sure that Lila gets away with what she's doing longer and more people get hurt."

"Then why didn't you tell him that?"

"I didn't want him to be disappointed in me! He said I was an Everyday Ladybug at the picnic and that I always helped everyone. I didn't want to seem mean or like I didn't want to give Lila a chance to fit in at school. He asked me if it really mattered as long as he and I knew the truth. So I just shrugged off Lila's threat. I didn't think things would get this bad, or that she would threaten me again after school..."

Everyone went silent at that point, before Alya raised her phone to her face. "You get all that Sunshine?"

_"...Yeah, I heard everything Alya." _

Everyone froze, none more stiffly than Marinette who seemed to have gone catatonic at the sound of Adrien Agreste's voice from Alya's phone.


	4. Chapter 4

Alya turned her phone around, revealing Adrien on video call. His expression at first was grim, but changed, softening into sadness and adoration the moment he spotted Marinette. Marinette suddenly burst into motion and tried to hide behind Mylene, but was largely unsuccessful as Mylene moved out of the way. She wasn't gonna let Marinette cower away from this. She and Adrien desperately needed to talk, and thankfully, Alya had found a way to have Marinette tell Adrien what happened without the girl stumbling and stuttering over her words, or escaping.

Sensing that there was no way of talking to Adrien, Marinette sighed and sat down, her eyes reluctantly meeting Adrien's. "H-Hi Adrien...How are y-you th-this evening?"

_"Marinette...You know we have to talk about this."_

Marinette sighed again, her eyes averting to the side. "Y-Yeah...I know..."

_"Marinette, why didn't you tell me?"_

"If you were on the phone as long as I think you were, then you heard me say it already." She said, glaring slightly at Alya, who only crossed her arms, totally unphased.

_"Marinette." _Adrien said, some frustration in his tone, as his expression became grim again.

"It's like I said. I didn't want you to be disappointed in me." She said, her eyes averting away from Alya and back to the side.

_"Come on Marinette. That can't be the reason."_

"Adrien, just _please_ drop it." Marinette said, her arms crossing in front of her. Her tone was laced with frustration, and before Mylene could try and relieve the tension, Adrien spoke again.

_"Marinette, this is serious. How could you think that I would be disappointed in you for telling me what Lila did? What could have possibly given you the impression that I-"_

"Because you've done it before." Marinette said, almost whispering.

_"...What?" _Adrien said, a confused look on his face.

"_I said_," Marinette said as she finally looked Adrien in the eye. "because you've done it before."

Everyone looked at Adrien then, all wearing confused expressions. None looked more confused than Adrien though, who looked to be trying to remember the incident Marinette was talking about, but with no more details, he seemed to be failing as his face became frustrated. _"Marinette, when did I ever-"_

"The day that Chloe's dad was akumatized into Malediktator." Marinette said, mercifully giving everyone more information.

Alya perked up then. "Oh yeah! I remember that day! That's when Chloe showed us that fake interview where she was dressed up as Queen Bee and Ladybug. Everyone gave her a hard time for that, especially since she pulled that stunt at the station where she used her powers to create a situation where she would look like the hero."

_"Yeah, everyone did give her a hard time about that, she was pretty upset." _Adrien said.

"Yeah, she was upset, but despite how everyone was giving her a hard time, the moment I spoke, she tried to take it out on me like I was the only one who spoke. I hadn't even meant to say anything at first." Marinette said, frowning.

_"True, but your last comment really made her upset. You were kinda harsh Marinette." _Adrien said.

Marinette glared at him then, and Adrien seemed taken aback, but before he could say anything about it, Marinette spoke again.

"My parents and I were on that train, Adrien."

Adrien's jaw dropped, and he paled considerably. _"W-What?"_

"My parents and I were on the train that Chloe pulled her little superhero stunt on. If Ladybug and Chat Noir hadn't shown up, we could've been hurt or even _killed_."

Adrien paled even more, but Marinette continued on, not shying away like she had before.

"And yet when I and everyone else was glad that Chloe was leaving, you were upset that we were happy. You practically _shamed_ me when I said that she was a brat to everyone and that she was useless. While I understand the useless part wasn't right, you, I, and everyone here knows just how much of a brat Chloe can be. She torments everyone just because she can and gets away with it because her father is the mayor. But almost every single time Chloe does something wrong, you never really reprimand her or hold her accountable for her actions. I understand that you guys have been friends for a long time and have a strong connection, but that doesn't excuse how she treats everyone. But that day, when you shamed me and was disappointed because everyone was celebrating Chloe being gone, stuck with me. You made me feel really guilty for being happy that my long-time bully was leaving."

Adrien's expression became sad, what could be seen of his shoulders drooping as Marinette continued to talk, laying his flaws bare for everyone to see.

"So when you stopped me from exposing Lila when she slipped up that day, and asked me if it really mattered if both of us knew the truth, I decided to keep my mouth shut. And when she threatened me again after school, I stuck with that decision. I thought at the time that maybe you were right, and that Lila would eventually lie herself into a corner she couldn't escape from. But what you don't realize is that lies hurt people. Maybe not at first, but they do eventually. I thought you would have learned that the day that Lila lied her way into your house. Alya and I were nearby when you chewed Lila out because your dad's assistant and bodyguard got reprimanded because of what she did. But despite knowing that people got hurt, you still kept quiet about her lies. Taking all of that into account, not only was I scared that you would be disappointed in me if I tried to tell you what Lila did, but I also figured that you wouldn't do anything about it and just tell me to keep quiet about it or give her another chance."

"Basically," Marinette said, her eyes averting to the side again, almost like she was afraid of what she was going to say next. "I didn't have faith that you would be on my side."

Everyone was silent then, Marinette's confession of her lack of faith in Adrien doing the right thing stunning everyone, until they heard a sniffle. Everyone's heads turned to where the sound came from, and were even more stunned to see that Adrien had teared up, a hand covering his mouth.

Marinette gasped, both hands covering her own mouth as her eyes too began to water. "Adrien, I-I'm so sorry! I d-didn't mean-"

"_**No**_." Adrien said, his tone surprisingly forceful as he began wiping his eyes. _"Don't you __**dare **__apologize Marinette. I needed to hear this. I needed to hear how bad of a friend I was being."_

"Adrien," Marinette began as she too wiped her eyes. "You're weren't being a bad-"

"_**Yes I was**_." He said, his tone fierce and his eyes blazing with frustration and sadness, which seemed to be directed towards himself. _"Before I came to school, I was so used to be walked all over, whether it's by my father, or Chloe, or others, that I didn't realize that by letting things go, I'm enabling them to keep doing those things and worse. But when I came to school, I started learning that some things shouldn't be tolerated, and I became more confident. When that incident with the fire department happened, I chewed Chloe out for it and threatened to end our friendship."_

Everyone gasped, including Marinette, but Adrien continued on.

_"For a while it kinda worked, but in the end, when I promised her we would always be friends, she went right back to her old behavior immediately. And I just took it as she would never change. What I should have done was held her accountable right then and there, but I didn't. And I should have realized that she wasn't going to change unless she actually did lose me as a friend, because the consequences would have been more real then. When I talked to Lila on the day she came...back..."_

Adrien began frowning before turning his eyes toward Marinette. _"Marinette, you said she threatened you in the girl's bathroom on the day she came back, right?"_

Marinette nodded. "Yeah, why?"

_"Was it during lunch time?" _He said, a little anger seeping into his tone.

Marinette nodded again, her expression becoming a bit timid at Adrien's tone.

_"...When I came into the locker room during that time, she was there, walking away from the bathroom. She must have just come from threatening you in the bathroom when I came in. When she saw me, she started talking to me about helping her make up the school work she missed, and how her uncle was a great pianist who taught her how to play piano. She said she had to stop playing because of arthritis and asked if I could give her lessons when she gets better. That's when I told her not to lie to me like she lied the her first day of school about being connected to Ladybug."_

Everyone gasped, before Rose began clapping and cheering in excitement.

"Yes!" She said as she clasped her hands together. "This is perfect!"

Everyone looked at Rose in confusion before the short haired girl made a frustrated noise and threw her hands in the air, wildly gesturing to make her point. "Girls, Adrien just corroborated Marinette's story! And the best part is that we never asked him about it, he brought up Ladybug and Lila by himself, and his own words _unprompted _prove that what Marinette said about Ladybug chewing out Lila in front of Adrien was true! We've got more evidence and another witness to Lila's lies!"

_"Wait, hold on," _Adrien said, turning to Marinette as she sheepishly looked away. _"Marinette, you were there?"_

Marinette takes a deep breath and sighs, before turning back to Adrien and nodding. She quickly gives him a run down of what happened that day on her end, and as Adrien listens, he begins corroborating the events she describes. What Lila said in the library, the book cart, Lila being interested in his book, and most importantly, what went down in the park between Ladybug and Lila.

Mylene couldn't be happier if she tried. Never could she have imagined that Lila slipping up would lead down a rabbit hole of lies, one dug by Lila herself. She also never could have imagined that Lila had done _much worse _than lie to people, like threatening Marinette and having a fierce grudge against one of the heroes of Paris just because she had been called out on her lies.

And then to find out that not only had the people at their school had been victims of Lila's lies, but so had everyone around her.

Mylene was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard Adrien slightly raise his voice.

_"Wait, what do you mean you want to expose her to the entire city? I'm not on Lila's side or anything, but that might be taking things too far wouldn't it? Exposing her to the school would be what she deserves, but exposing her to the city might have people coming after her." _Adrien said, a worried look on his face.

"Adrien," Alya spoke, going around the table next to Marinette so that he could see her. "Mylene saw Lila try to go after Marinette while you both were sleeping on the train. She also has video of Lila violently throwing a croissant from the Dupain-Cheng bakery into the garbage with this really mean look on her face, right after she lied to my face saying that she would eat it when she got home. When I offered her one, telling her where I got it from, she looked really disgusted for a moment before she corrected herself. She knew I saw her face and made up that excuse. She had absolutely no problem lying to me, and the amount of anger and disgust she had towards that croissant when I told her where it came from, and when she threw it away on Mylene's video, tells me that she really hates Marinette and anything to do with her. Who knows what else she's willing to do to make Marinette suffer?"

Adrien frowned even more, and was about to speak before Marinette spoke.

"Adrien, we have to expose her to the city. I don't want Lila to get hurt either, but considering how good she is at lying and isolating people, I have a feeling she's done something like this before, if not once then _multiple_ times. She's way too good at getting sympathy and knowing how people work and what buttons to push for her not to have hurt other people in the past. People who could be worse off than what she's currently doing to me. I mean we got lucky that she was caught on her first day here by Ladybug in front of you. Imagine the amount of damage she could have done if she _hadn't _been caught that first day?"

Marinette wraps her arms around herself, a deep frown forming on her face.

"Imagine what she could have done to someone who figured her out and _wasn't_ strong enough to shrug her off? Some people get bullied and hurt themselves when they feel that nothing will stop the bullying. I'm not saying she has caused anyone to hurt themselves or anything, there's no proof of that that we know of. But the proof we do have is that Lila is a very accomplished liar, and liars like her don't get to where she is with just luck. She has experience in doing this. When she threatened me that second time outside of the school, she told me that I would lose all of my friends like she was _sure_ it was going to happen, like she knew _exactly_ how to make that happen."

Alya wraps an arm around Marinette's shoulders and Marinette gives her a small smile, then turning back to Adrien with a determined expression, her eyes grim but resolute.

"I hate to be the one that even has to consider outing her on such a wide scale, and I'm not considering it out of spite, not completely, but there is more than likely other people out there that were denied justice, lost friends, family, opportunities, and/or had their names dragged through the mud just because Lila doesn't like to get called out as the liar she is. Lila gets away with almost everything she does and more than likely has in the past as well. She shouldn't get to walk away this time, not when we have proof, amazing proof, and witnesses. And not just regular people, influential people like Alya the Ladyblogger, like Adrien the Model, even Jagged Stone, band members of Kitty Section, even Ladybug and Chat Noir! These are all people that the city will listen to. And even if they were a bit skeptical, they can do the research for themselves. People on the internet are really good at that. The truth will spread faster than Ladybug's Miraculous Ladybug Cure."

"Adrien," Alya said as she sighed. "Even if we didn't expose her to the entire city, it's more than likely that the news would get out anyway. Almost certain, really. If it's true that her parents are diplomats, then things are gonna get hairy anyway. When everything comes out, we'll find out if she was really traveling with her parents or not. And if she wasn't, which is highly likely, then Lila would be extremely guilty of truancy, which would warrant an almost immediate expulsion and trouble with the law. A diplomat's daughter being taken in for extreme truancy as well as being expelled from school won't stay quiet. Not only that, but as a journalist who severely messed up, I'm obligated to take down the interviews with her and post an apology. Even if I didn't announce Lila's name, people are smart enough to put two and two together. It would more than likely make the news since my footage of akuma attacks is often used on the news. Even if we took every precaution, she would still be outed as a liar city wide."

Adrien looked troubled for a moment before his expression became resigned. _"Yeah, you have a point. And what Marinette said was also true. Lila is too good of a liar for her not to have experience. And Marinette couldn't have possibly been the only one to have caught on to Lila and tried to expose her."_

"It's not even that her lies are particularly that good. What she's really good at is conning people with phony evidence. She tried to do that with Adrien on her first day here. She literally stole his father's book went and bought a necklace to make it seem like she was a superhero. And then there's those fake Skype calls that she says were taken while she was overseas. She's also good at deflecting and getting around questions whenever she's asked about details. Like on her first day back when I asked her about Jagged's crocodile. She just claimed that she saved his kitten before he got Fang. It's completely _bogus_. Any true Jagged Stone fan knows that Jagged hatched Fang from an egg, and has been his ONLY pet for a little over 15 years. It's public knowledge. Crocodiles grow larger as they get older. So either Lila isn't as young as she says she is, or, as we know, she's _lying_." Marinette said as she rolled her eyes and frowned.

_"Marinette's right. While Lila was akumatized into Volpina she actually came to my house, while she was akumatized and tried to convince me again that she was actually a superhero and that Ladybug was just jealous. She even insinuated that us meeting after school was a date when it wasn't. Even after she had already been exposed she __**still **__tried to make me believe that she was a superhero. In fact, after I asked her not to lie to me again like she did with Ladybug, she said that __**Ladybug**__ was the liar."_

The girls gasp, horrified. They had already learned that Lila wasn't as much of a fan of Ladybug as she said she was since she degraded her in front of Adrien to make herself look better. But to go further and actually accuse Ladybug of being the liar when Lila had already been exposed to Adrien, and for her to try to poison his mind against Ladybug...

_This is a kind of madness even I didn't expect_, Mylene thought as she scowled. _So far, Adrien had been corroborating everything that Marinette had been telling them, mostly unprompted. Then there were the other witnesses to Lila's attempts to threaten Marinette like Alya and Nino, who had seen Lila waiting for Marinette at the bottom of the stairs on the day she returned to school. But one thing still bugged her. Just how did Lila get akumatized that day? Except for Adrien telling her-_

Mylene gasped again, drawing everyone's attention. She immediately turned to Adrien, her quick movements startling him and everyone else. "Adrien, did Lila get upset with you for calling out her lies?"

Adrien nodded, now visibly less startled. _"Yeah. I told her that if she kept lying that she would just turn everyone against her, and I offered to help if something was wrong, but I also told her that she needed to be honest with me. She blew up at me, saying that I was trying to lecture her like Ladybug did. She turned her nose up at my help and then left. A few minutes later, less than two in fact, just as I was leaving the locker room she came out of nowhere and pushed me back in, claiming that she wanted to apologize. She swore she wouldn't tell another lie, and then kissed my cheek. Next thing I knew, I woke up stuffed in my locker."_

"That must've been right after she got akumatized." Marinette said.

_"But that doesn't make sense." _Adrien said, frowning. _"How could Hawk Moth have possibly sent an akuma to Lila that quickly?"_

The girls looked at each other nervously, with Juleka mumbling quietly, "...Guess he didn't hear that part..."

Unfortunately, Adrien did hear what Juleka said. _"Didn't hear what Juleka?"_

Juleka winced before her eyes slowly shifted to Marinette, who then sighed and looked into Adrien's eyes. "The reason why Lila was akumatized so fast...Was because the akuma came for _me_ first, right after she finished threatening me in the bathroom."

"**...**_**What?**_**" **Adrien said, his voice soft but filled with incredulity and fury, which everyone could see growing as his expression gradually began to harden.

"Adrien, it's okay. The akuma never made contact. I was able to calm down and the akuma left. Your conversation with Lila and her anger at being called out again for her lies was perfect timing Hawk Moth."

_"But how could I have missed the akuma if it had just left you alone? I only had my back turned for a __**second...**__" _Adrien said as his expression darkened even further.

"It's a magical butterfly Adrien. I doubt it has the same speed limits as a normal one would." Marinette said.

_"Still, Lila is out of control. She's arrogant enough to try to __**con**__ me right after she finished __**threatening**__ you, and then got akumatized and attacked me just because I called her out on her lies." _Adrien said as he crossed his arms.

"...That _witch_."

All heads turned to Alya as she gripped her pajama bottoms.

"Alya?" Rose said as she looked at the copper haired girl in concern.

"That witch tried to do to _Adrien_ what she threatened to do to _Marinette!_" Alya said as she clenched her teeth. Pure fury seemed to leak from her very pores as everyone began to try calming her down while simultaneously looking around for butterflies. Mylene was surprised that with all of the anger and hurt feelings that they'd gone through so far that night, that no one had been akumatized. Either Hawk Moth was unwilling to release another akuma today or he was asleep. Either way, she thought as Alya began to finally calm down, she was grateful that no one had been akumatized so far and hoped that it would stay that way.

"Now that you're calmer," Marinette said, breaking Mylene out of her thoughts and back to everyone crowding Alya. "What did you mean when you said that Lila tried to do to Adrien what she was trying to do to me?"

Alya huffed and crossed her arms. "I mean that she tried to ruin Adrien's relationship with his friends. You weren't there Marinette, but when Nino and I walked out of the cafeteria, Adrien, or I guess Lila with Adrien's face, immediately started making Adrien look bad. She told Nino that he didn't deserve her friendship, or me as his girlfriend, or his cap. Then she snatched his cap from his head and put it on. She escaped soon after that and we saw Ladybug follow her."

"I remember that." Juleka says as everyone turns to her. "Rose and I were right behind Alya and Nino when we saw Adrien, uh, well, _Lila_ saying those things. It was only after he, uh, _she_, jumped off the second floor railing that other students came running out of their classes to watch."

"I was there too." Mylene said as the event played out in her mind. "Ivan and I were standing next to you and Rose. And that means more witnesses to Lila's behavior. What Alya said about Lila trying to ruin Adrien's relationships makes a lot of sense. She was mad that Adrien wouldn't comply to her lies and instead took it out on him by going for two of his closest friends, one of which was his best friend. Honestly, if Marinette were there with them, I have no doubt that she would have tried to make good on her threat. Using Adrien's appearance, she could have easily devastated Marinette by making it appear as if Adrien really hated her. I'm not sure if she realized it or not, or if it was all part of her plan, but in less than one day she targeted every single one of Adrien's core friends; Nino, Alya, and Marinette."

As Mylene looked around, she could tell that what she said had clicked into everyone's minds...Well, almost everyone as she observed Alix, who had been quiet for a long time. Mylene was worried that despite all of the corroborating evidence that everyone was providing thanks to Adrien's side of the story, that Alix would still be on the fence when it came to Lila. But before she could think further on it, Alix finally turned to everyone and spoke.

"...She's a _psychopath._"

All heads turned to Alix, a bit startled. Mylene decided to cut to the chase and ask what Alix meant before she was bombarded with questions from the others. "What do you mean she's a psycopath?"

_"Just because she's awful doesn't mean we should go around saying things like that." _Adrien said.

Alix rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "No, I mean she's a _literally_ a psychopath. In the clinical sense. She exhibits all the signs and characteristics of one."

"How do you know that?" Rose asked.

Alix shrugged. "I lost a bet with Kim a while back and was forced to read one of my brother's books. I picked Psychology since I thought I could learn some tricks to mess with Kim's head during dares and competitions. You know, psychological warfare."

_That...made a lot of sense_, Mylene thought before returning her attention back to Alix.

"Anyway, I read the book, and I have to admit it was really interesting. But one of the sections I read was on psychopaths and sociopaths. I'm no psychiatrist, but I think one would agree with me that Lila is a psychopath if one actually examined her. Based on all of the things we've heard so far, her behavior practically screams it. She stole from Adrien and not only used the book to con him, but also threw it away. She lied to all of us and then threatened Marinette because she refused to go along with her lies. She got angry at Adrien for the same thing and got akumatized, attacked him, shoved him in a locker and then tried to turn his friends against him using his face. Normally I would blame akumatization but the fact that she attempted to do to Adrien what she threatened Marinette that she would do, leaves her with no excuse because there was a precedent she set _before_ she was akumatized, when she threatened Marinette. This proves that Lila has no empathy, and no conscience. She doesn't feel like what she's doing is wrong. It's how she was able to threaten Marinette and then try to charm and con Adrien in what, less than a minute between both events?"

Marinette and Adrien look at each other and then back at Alix and nodded, who nodded back and then continued talking.

"That's another thing. According to the book, psychopaths are also known to be charming and are good at blending in or acting so that they aren't found out. If we all think about it, Lila came to this school and immediately began lying about people that we were all interested in. Either she did some investigating before she came to our school, or she was smart enough to sniff out our interests during conversations and then use those bits that she got to charm us all."

_"I'm betting that it was both." _Adrien said as he frowned and crossed his arms. _"Lila was quick to say she loved superheros and all of that knowing Ladybug and fake miraculous nonsense the moment she looked at my father's book. She knows how to improvise and make up things about people's interests to make herself look better and more interesting."_

"Yeah I bet she put in extra effort because she likes you, or your status anyway. She didn't even try to give herself time to get to know you better. She just immediately tried to make herself seem like she was this incredible person, even more incredible than Ladybug. And I'm willing to bet she did that because she noticed you were fond of Ladybug. Psychopaths don't see people as people. They see them as objects that they can use. Like pieces on a chessboard. More than likely, she believes herself to be the smartest person in the room. I bet she was shocked when Ladybug not only caught her but exposed her to the guy she wanted. Based on what I read, it would explain her hatred of Ladybug. She thought she was above getting caught and when she was, it was more than likely a major blow to her ego. And since it cost her something she really wanted, I bet that doesn't sit well with her. And then you have Marinette, who like Ladybug, refuses to tolerate Lila's lies. The fact that Lila is going so far to terrorize Marinette and destroy her relationships, shows that she has a fragile ego. It also shows that the blow Ladybug dealt when she exposed Lila to Adrien, still hasn't healed and that she won't tolerate another blow like that from anyone, including Marinette and Adrien."

"While this is all fascinating and sickening at the same time, what does all of this mean?" Alya said crossing her arms.

"It means that if we're gonna expose her, we need to be willing to do everything we can. Any information against her, anything we can use, we need to use. She's not gonna make it easy. She knows how to cry on command and turn on the sympathy in order to make whoever is speaking against her look like the bad guy, like she did to Marinette when that whole thing with the seats came up. We need to be able to back her into a corner that she can't escape from, so that she can't escape the consequences of her actions." Alix said, scratching her head in with a contemplative expression.

"I've been recording our conversation since before Adrien called and after Marinette got here." Alya said. "It would prove that what Marinette said was true and corroborated by Adrien unprompted, along with things that multiple witnesses saw that doesn't just include us."

"That's...a little freaky, but it might just work." Alix said, skeptically.

"It won't be enough." Mylene said. Everyone looked at her, particularly Alix and Alya who looked ready to argue their case until Marinette spoke.

"Mylene is right. Despite all of our evidence, it won't be enough. Even though people will listen to what we have to say, it's pointless unless we can actually nail her for what she's done. And even all of our word isn't enough for that. We need people of real authority that Lila can't argue against without risking outing herself. Unfortunately, people like Mme. Bustier and Mr. Damocles are not good candidates. Mme. Bustier is notorious for blaming the victims and having sympathy for the '_devils_'. Zombizou happened because instead of Mme. Bustier punishing Chloe for breaking into my locker and vandalizing my gift, she gave Chloe half the credit for my work by saying that she would think of _both_ of us when she used it."

Marinette frowned, the day in question replaying in her mind.

"I worked hard to make that and she just let Chloe get away with it. Chloe didn't even _try_ to deny she did it, and that's when Mme. Bustier took me outside the classroom. It made me believe that I was getting into trouble for what Chloe did and it attracted an akuma. And then she gave me this talk that basically said that instead of being upset, I should forgive Chloe because she doesn't know the meaning of love. She got scared when she saw the akuma and it latched onto her. She believes that the _victims_ should be a better example for the _bullies _so that they will learn to act better instead of punishing them. But she certainly has no problems _punishing_ _the victims _like she did to Ivan our first day of school when Kim was bullying him. I love Mme. Bustier, but we can't trust her to do the right thing when it comes to people like Chloe and Lila. Mr. Damocles is kind of the same. He has no problem punishing victims of bullying but he folds over for people with influence like Chloe who is the mayor's daughter, even if it means someone is unfairly punished like Alya was. If Lila's parent's truly are diplomats, I believe he would do the same thing."

"You know, exposing Lila to the whole city doesn't seem like enough now that you mentioned that." Alix said.

"What do you mean?" Marinette said as her expression became confused.

"I mean that we shouldn't just expose Lila. I think we should expose Mr. Damocles, and Mme. Bustier too. It's their fault too that Lila has been able to get this far. Lila missed months of school and faked illnesses so that she could get special treatment and accommodations. If they had actually investigated they would have found that Lila was full of crap."

_"...Normally, I would have a problem with that, but honestly I don't think it could be avoided." _Said Adrien, who was rubbing the back of his neck in thought. _"Even if we didn't include them, if Lila got exposed to the whole city, people are going to wonder where the adults were in this situation and how they let it get so far. There's going to be plenty of backlash-"_

_"Wait!" _Mylene said as jumped up from her seat. "Say that last part again Adrien."

_"Uh, there's going to be plenty of-"_

"No no _before_ that!" Mylene said as a solution began to form in her mind.

_"Uh, I was saying that even if we didn't include Mr. Damocles and Mme. Bustier, if Lila got exposed to the whole city, people are going to wonder where the adults were-"_

_"That's it!" _Mylene said. _Of course_, she thought. _It was right there in front of them the whole time! Why hadn't she thought about it before?!_

"Uh, what's it? Mind sharing since we can't read minds?" Alix said as she crossed her arms.

"Alix, you're the one who said that we have to back Lila into a corner that she can't get out of. And Marinette, you said that we need real people of authority that Lila can't argue against. Who are the two people that have both the ability to debunk all of Lila's lies and she can't argue against?" Mylene said as she bounced slightly on her toes in excitement.

Rose raised her hand and waved it around vigorously. "Oh oh! I know, it's Ladybug and Chat Noir!"

"Wrong! Well, no, you're actually kinda right. But while they would definitely be a huge help, we can't guarantee that we can get a hold of them or that they would even agree to help in our plan to expose Lila."

No one noticed Marinette and Adrien shift their eyes to the side in thought.

After a few more moments of thinking Mylene became impatient before the answer finally exploded out of her.

"_Her parents_! We need Lila's _parents! _They are the only ones who can debunk all of Lila's lies concerning her travels and whether she knows all the celebrities she brags about. That coupled with our evidence would _sink_ Lila and her lies."

Everyone began grinning, none more than Marinette as she spoke. "Are we gonna tattle on Lila to her parents?"

"We'll need to record Lila's lies and present our case to them, but yeah, we are _definitely_ tattling on Lila to her parents." Mylene said with a grin.

After more excited talking and grinning, the night began to take a toll on all of them and soon they began preparations for bed. They bid Adrien goodnight and hung up, thanking him for telling them his side of the story.

Alya was the last to start to settle down as she began saving all of the evidence, notes, and recordings from that night. The others were already asleep, content smiles on their faces with Marinette in the middle. Alya was happy to see that despite the rollercoaster of emotions and revelations they went through tonight, that Marinette was able to sleep peacefully knowing that her friends believd her. Just as she was about to shut down her computer, her phone dinged with a notification. She glanced at her phone, and was surprised to see a text from Adrien, asking her to call him.

Making sure that the others were still fast asleep, Alya made her way out of her room and into the bathroom, closing the door behind her and sitting on the lid of the toilet. She called Adrien, curious about what he could have wanted after everything was said and done. Adrien answered her call almost immediately, and she was taken aback by his grim expression and filled with wrath.

"Jeez Sunshine, what's up with you?" Alya said as she grimaced at his expression.

_"What's up is that I need you to find everything you can on Lila. When we expose her, I don't just want her to be humiliated. I want her to be __**destroyed**__."_

Alya's eyebrows rose as high as they could go at Adrien's statement. Adrien? Wanting someone destroyed? "Uh, you alright Adrien? Not that I'm complaining about taking down Lila in a brutal fashion, but usually you're all for the peace and love route."

_"I was all for that...__**until she threatened Marinette**__."_

If Alya weren't so sure that she still had hair on her head, she would have thought that her wig was currently in orbit. She'd _never_ seen Adrien this mad before. Disappointed, yes. Mildly annoyed, absolutely. Frustrated, you betcha. But this was something entirely new; A darkness to Adrien that she, nor anyone, had probably ever seen before. "Well, I get what you're saying. She's a monster for threatening Marinette, and I want to see her go down too." Alya said.

"_You don't understand, Alya. I want to __**eradicate**__ any and all credibility she could possibly have." _Adrien said as he frowned.

"Uh, aren't we planning to do that already?" Alya said as her expression became confused.

"_Not to the degree I want. I __**warned **__Lila not to hurt the people I love after she got my bodyguard and my father's assistant in trouble for lying her way into my house. And I was especially angry when she put me in a headlock and forced a kiss on me, and then took a picture and sent it to all of my contacts. And then I find out tonight that she was so much worse than I could have possibly imagined."_

"Wait...We could work with that. I mean, she basically committed sexual assault when she did that."

Adrien grinned, his expression looking like the cat that got the canary. _"Good. But I also especially want her to pay for what she did to Marinette. Marinette had a point tonight when she said that Lila must have done this before. I want you to dig up everything you can find. If you need financial help, I've got your back. If you need anything, just let me know. I don't want Lila to wriggle her way out of any consequences. I want it to __**big**__ and I want it to be __**public**__."_

"We might have trouble with that. People can say that we're doing a smear campaign." Alya said.

"_It's only a smear campaign if it's not true. And if it is true, it's an __**exposé**__." _He said as he crossed his arms. _"It would be good for your blog if you made an exposé on Lila after she conned you. I think your followers would be more understanding and sympathetic to you if you reveal just what Lila was willing to do to get her way and hurt whoever stood in her way_. _It would also be like a Public Service Announcement to be wary of Lila and what she says. You'd be protecting people against her because they won't trust her, and that's __**no less than what she deserves.**__"_

"I get that, and it sounds like a great idea, but why didn't you just discuss this with us while we were all talking?" She said.

"_Because this is my own personal piece of revenge against Lila for what she did to Marinette. I don't care what she does to me, but Marinette works too hard and does too much for the people around her to be threatened and lose her friends just because Lila wants to pretend she's a great person and can't tell the truth to save her life. __**Not one part of Lila can measure up to Marinette and she knows it. **__Unlike Lila, Marinette has plenty of famous connections that she earned. She doesn't brag and never needed to. She let her work do the talking for her. Marinette trusted me to have her back and I didn't, and now I'm gonna make sure I never make that mistake again. I'm done trying to keep the peace when to people like Lila, __**peace was never an option.**__"_

"You really need to stop looking at those Untitled Goose Game memes."

"_You know I'm right regardless. Besides, I'm more than ready to be that goose if it means I get to ruin Lila's day." _Adrien said, not at all ashamed of his weebness.

"Yeah, you're right. So, how are we gonna ruin Lila's day? It has to work with our plan so that nothing clashes." Alya said.

"_Oh I think I have an idea." _He said, grinning even more. _"Just be ready to record on Monday. I have a feeling things are going to get heated."_

And with that, Adrien hangs up.

Alya takes a moment to look at her phone, feeling no less than pride, amusement and giddiness toward Adrien after their conversation. She had never thought that Adrien could be this devious. He was smart enough to recruit her for his plan because he knew just how badly she wanted to get back at Lila for what she did. He recognized her fury and realized that she had the resources and abilities to help him with his own side plan to ruin Lila.

Alya stood up, her butt and legs a bit numb thanks to sitting on the hard toilet lid and proceeded to walk back to her room, grinning the entire way. She wasn't sure if Adrien realized it, but the little tidbit he dropped about warning Lila about hurting the people he loved was particularly interesting. Especially since he was only referring to Marinette in that instance.

Alya settled down, removing her glasses as she tucked herself in. For the first time in a long time, Alya was looking forward to school on Monday.

It was sure to be quite a day.


	5. Intermission Part 1

The Fog is Lifting CHAPTER 5

Intermission: ~Adrien Agreste after the first phone call~

The moment he hung up that phone, the smile slid off of his face, and with speed he thought he could only achieve while cloaked with miraculous magic, Adrien Agreste raced to his unnecessarily enormous bathroom...

_And vomited. _

He puked, and puked, and puked some more, until absolutely nothing was left. Throughout his heaving, he could faintly feel Plagg gently rubbing his back, showing concern he often buried under snark, sass, and mountains of Camembert cheese.

When his stomach finally deemed itself empty enough to stop him from heaving any longer, Adrien flushed the toilet and sat on the cold tiled floor, and began to cry. His body, already trembling from muscle spasms due to vomiting, began to tremble even more as he descended into sobs. Tiredly, he brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, and burying his face into what little space his arms had left to offer.

He hurt.

Oh did he _**hurt**_.

It took everything within him to not break down after hearing of Marinette's ordeal with Lila and her lack of faith in him as a friend. He held it back for the most part, but he did crack a little. And that crack just expanded more and more as he continued to listen about the monster Lila Rossi; The monster that _he'd_ help to run rampant. The nausea he felt building with every realization, with every painful impact that Lila's foul lies had caused, and even the damage Chloe had done that he'd dismissed or shrugged off, was almost too much to bear. He'd been forced to steel himself, to not give away the storm of emotions that burned inside him like acid.

And even now, the guilt, the shame, the anger, the self loathing he felt towards himself was absolutely eating him alive.

And yet there was nothing. No sounds other than his sobbing. No wind from the open window, no dripping from the faucets. Even the water in the toilet next to him was absolutely still.

More importantly, however, is that there was no fluttering of butterfly wings, and no voice in his head trying to convince him to steal the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous.

He guessed that was for the best. Being akumatized on top of everything else that had occurred would only make him feel even more like a failure. Because that's what he was.

A complete and utter _failure_.

No matter how much anyone tried to say he wasn't, there was no changing just how much he'd utterly failed when it came to the current situation. He failed to realize just how dangerous Lila was, despite numerous examples. He failed to notice just how much the class dynamic was shifting to Lila's advantage. He failed to have common sense.

And most importantly, he failed Marinette.

And apparently, he'd been failing her for a long time, as evidenced by her admission of her lack of faith in him. His stomach lurched as he realized that he'd been failing Marinette since the day he met her, when he decided to bite his tongue about who actually put gum on her seat. And with that memory, more began to flip through his mind like some kind of sick film. He could do nothing but watch as his multiple failures to help and protect his friend replayed in his head over and over again. Forcing to him to relive his failures. But with each replay, he learned something new about his friend that he never realized before. He saw how she tried to hide her disappointment and hurt. He saw the frustration that tightened her jaw before smiling like everything was okay.

He saw how resigned she looked when she was denied justice, and forced apologize or take responsibility for things that were in no way her fault. He saw her exhausted smiles, and bags under her eyes as she tried her best to be their Everyday Ladybug. He saw how sad she looked when her concerns were dismissed, and how frustrated she was to stick to his idiotic advice about taking the high road with Lila, even though it hurt and infuriated her to let Lila lie and take advantage of their friends.

And as he saw this, strangely, his grief began to lessen as resolve took it's place. Resolve to be better, to do better. Resolve to learn from his horrible mistake.

Resolve to make things better for Marinette.

After all, he was at fault for failing to recognize the threat that Lila was and is, and was at least partially responsible for the people she hurt because of her lies. He could have and should have exposed her a long time ago. If not because of her making promises she couldn't keep to their classmates, but because she clearly hates Ladybug enough to side with Hawk Moth, a terrorist, in order to take her down. Why he didn't expose her after that he can only chalk up to pure naive stupidity.

The last of his sobs and sniffling quieted as he took one last shuddering breath before his breathing evened out. His mournful expression faded as he reached over to the toilet paper to wipe his mouth. Tossing it into the toilet and flushing, he stood up a bit shakily, trying his best to ignore the pins and needles feeling of circulation returning to his legs. As he walked to the bathroom counter to brush his teeth, he heard the light 'whooshing' sound of Plagg's flight near his head.

"Well, _that_ happened." Plagg said, as he took in Adrien's expression in the mirror. Adrien scoffed, clearly not in the mood for Plagg's snarkiness, as he grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste.

"You were there to hear everything, so yeah." Adrien said as he began depositing a dollop of toothpaste onto his toothbrush. "Do me a favor. Just tell me 'you told me so' and move on. I don't think I can take any more reminders about my utter stupidity and failure tonight." He said as he shoved the toothbrush into his mouth and almost violently began scrubbing his teeth.

"I told you so." Plagg said as he shrugged his tiny shoulders, before gently perching on Adrien's shoulder. "But I don't think you're stupid. Naive, definitely. Soft hearted, check. But stupid, absolutely not."

Adrien spat into the sink. "Plagg, don't patronize me. You heard everything they said. You saw how hurt Marinette was. How could I _not _be stupid? I could've nipped Lila's nonsense in the bud the very same day she lied to me on her first day of school. I could have stopped the spread of her influence. But instead I allowed her to run rampant, and mistakenly put her feelings above everyone else's. I allowed her lies to infect our classmates like a virus, and didn't notice how she was slowly turning everyone in our class against Marinette. She threatened Marinette and then had the nerve to try and con me into believing her lies like she hadn't just threatened someone."

Plagg's ears and tail drooped as he saw the fury building in Adrien's expression.

"What's worse is that she keeps trying to con me after she was already exposed by Ladybug as a liar right in front of me! And even called Ladybug the liar! And then there's that whole thing that happened when she attacked me for calling her out on it and stuffing me in my locker, and then tried to use my image to do the same thing she had just threatened to do to Marinette! And what did I do? Oh that's right. _NOTHING_. I didn't expose her."

"To be fair," Plagg cut in. "it's not like Pigtails told you about the threat. You didn't know about that when you gave her that advice so technically, you couldn't possibly have known just how dangerous Lila was."

"That's one of the worst parts of all of this. Because of my stupidity in dealing with Chloe, Marinette didn't have faith that I would do the right thing when it came to Lila. She didn't think I would be on her side or even believe her. We were supposed to be in this together and I practically handed the key to Marinette's demise right into Lila's hands because of my negligence. And then there's the fact that she helped Hawk Moth by working with Onii-chan when she wasn't even akumatized. She faked an injury just to separate Ladybug and I so that Onii-chan could defeat Ladybug. Ladybug could have been killed if that plan had succeeded. _And yet,_" Adrien said with a self-depreciating laugh. "and yet I didn't expose her! Not even when she _broke_ into my house, put me in a _headlock_, forced a _kiss_ on me, _took a picture of it_, and then sent it to all of my contacts to make it look like she and I were _dating!_"

"Adrien, STOP." Plagg said as he flew from Adrien's shoulder to stop in front of his face. "I get it, you messed up. Everyone does. The important part is that you learn from it and try your best to do better. If anyone in this whole mess is stupid it's Chloe and Lila. They do wrong and when there are consequences, they refuse to learn and they refuse to do better. They blame others and are too self-absorbed to realize that the world doesn't revolve around them, and that other people matter besideds them. You could have done better with Chloe, I agree. But you tried to be stern with her and although it looked like she was trying to be kinder, it was insincere. She was only after your friendship. You two have a long history, and she was your only friend for most of your life until recently. You went easier on her when you shouldn't have, but you aren't responsible for her behavior. You even tried to help Lila, and she attacked you for it. I know you don't want to give up on people, but there are times when you should prune people from your life. You want them to be good, and believe they can, but those two have proven time and time again that they just aren't willing to do that."

"But I'm supposed to be a _hero_. I'm supposed to encourage people to do good." Adrien says, looking down at the counter, his fists clenched.

"Exactly. You're supposed to _encourage _them, _not _force them. You can't force someone to be good Adrien, and it's not your responsibility or place to do so. People who choose to do wrong are wholly responsible for those decisions." Plagg said before floating lower to look Adrien in the eyes. "You're being too hard on yourself. If you were really as bad as you say you are, you wouldn't be a hero, or this torn up about your mistakes. I would have never met you, and I would rather never have cheese again if it meant you couldn't be my Black Cat." Plagg said, a tender smile on his face.

Plagg's image began to blur as Adrien's eyes filled with tears. "You really mean that?" He said as he sniffled.

"Yeah kid, I do." Plagg said as he flew up and gently hugged Adrien's cheek and rubbed his own against his. "And if you tell anyone about this conversation I will deny it."

Adrien let out a watery laugh as he gently rubbed his eyes free of any tears. "Yeah I figured. Thank you Plagg."

"Yeah yeah you're welcome. Now rinse that toothpaste out of your mouth. You look rabid." Plagg said as he retreated from the bathroom to find some cheese.

Adrien looked into the mirror and snorted before finishing up and rinsing his mouth. Mouth thoroughly cleaned, he looked back into the mirror at his reflection and began to frown. Despite what Plagg had said, it didn't change the fact that he'd failed. But just like before, resolve began to build within him. Resolve to correct his mistakes. Resolve to learn from his mistakes.

And most importantly, resolve to be a hero. _In_ and _out_ of the mask.

And first on his list of villains to take down was Lila Rossi. Between her and Chloe, Lila was undoubtedly the most dangerous because her true nature was widely unknown, and her ability to instigate akuma attacks via her manipulations left lasting damage even after the akuma victim was defeated. She is a devil in disguise that hides behind a fake smile and fake stories that tugged at the heart strings. Her ability to turn people's words against them and wriggle out of being exposed was going to be tough to contend with, but with the help of his newly discovered allies, he was going to make sure that Lila would never be believed again.

And he knew just who to call to help him make that happen.

And so as Adrien turned on his heel to walk out of his bathroom, he began to plan.

Adrien was still up by the time sunrise came around. His phone call with Alya last night had given him a very good idea. As a model, he had quite a bit of inside knowledge when it came to photos and privacy laws. No doubt Alya did as well, being a journalist. He doubted that Lila knew them, considering how boldly she acted when she took that picture of him in his bedroom and then spread it around.

When Alya told him that what Lila had done was considered sexual assault, it stuck with him. She lied her way into his home, snooped through his things, put him in a headlock and kissed him, took a picture of it, and then spread it around. If that wasn't bad enough, it risked two of his guardian's jobs and caused an akuma attack.

He sighed, brushing his hair from his face. He was tired, having been up all night planning Lila's downfall. But for the most part, he believed that he'd finally come up with something to at least put the wheels in motion. Luckily, Adrien knew the family attorney's number like the back of his hand, and she would be arriving this morning. And even if his father didn't agree, Adrien made more than enough money to hire her himself and pay for the legal fees. He didn't think it'd come to that, however. He and his father were never really close, but Adrien knew enough about his father to know that his father cared about the image of his company and the image his family more than anything. And with what he already had planned, his father would have no choice but to side with him on this matter.

Sitting back in his chair and stretching, he was startled by the sound of a text notification. Quickly grabbing his phone and seeing Alya's name, he grinned before opening the text and responding back. She was almost done with her article. He barely had enough time to finish his text and send it before there was a knock at his door. He jumped up, startled, and he could see in the corner of his eye that so did Plagg before zipping under the bed to hide. The door opened and Nathalie stepped in, looking nearly as put together as she usually did if not for the frown on her face. She seemed to pause, more than likely surprised to see him awake before clearing her throat and standing in her usual rigid stance.

"Adrien, please get dressed quickly. Your father would like to see you in his office right away." She said before turning on her heel and exiting the room, no doubt standing outside the door.

Adrien sighed before standing up to get dressed. "Didn't even say good morning."

As Nathalie escorted him from his room to his father's office, he figured that their family attorney had been concerned that she was contacted by Adrien and not his father, and then contacted his father to make sure that everything was okay. He also figured his father would be highly annoyed and would have tried to cancel the meeting he made with her. No such luck. Since Adrien had contacted her, it would have to be Adrien that would have to cancel the meeting. No doubt his father would pressure him to do so, but he wouldn't budge on this. He couldn't, not when there was so much at stake. His phone was in his pocket, and the moment things were in place, he would enact the first part of his plan.

He wouldn't let his father bully him this time.

When they reached his father's office door, Nathalie swiftly opened it for him and gestured for him to go in. He took a deep breath, and then stepped inside the lion's den where his father was predictably waiting, standing in front of his mother's enormous portrait. Nathalie entered behind him before shutting the door and standing to the side.

"Adrien, whatever nonsense you are planning ends now. You will call our attorney and cancel the meeting." Gabriel said as he turned around. He was as imposing and intimidating as ever as he glared down at him. But whatever nervousness that had built up on his way there was quickly discarded as he stood as tall as he could in opposition of his father.

"No father, I will not." Adrien said, but couldn't help but shrink a little as his father's glare intensified.

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. You _will_ call the attorney, and you _will _cancel the meeting. There is nothing else to discuss." Gabriel said as he came closer, his imposing stance becoming even more intimidating with every step. But Adrien would not falter. He steeled himself, balling up his fists as his expression hardened.

"I said no, father. I called her here for an important reason."

"And what, pray tell could be reason enough to call the family attorney without my permission? I highly doubt it's anything really important. You're just like your mother, dramatic about everything." Gabriel said as he looked down at Adrien.

Before he could respond, the doorbell rang. Nathalie swiftly went to her desk to view who it was through the security camera, before turning back to Gabriel. "It's Mme. Deveraux, sir."

Gabriel nodded. "Let her in. I doubt she'll be here long since Adrien will cancel the meeting."

"I'm not canceling the meeting father. I already said no." Adrien said. He was getting really sick of his father acting like his feelings and decisions didn't matter.

"Stop your foolishness at once. This is not a silly game. You have wasted Mme. Deveraux's time by calling her here and have embarrassed me and this company." Gabriel sneered.

There was a knock on the door, but Adrien ignored Nathalie moving passed him to focus completely on his father. It was clear that Gabriel couldn't be reasoned with, so Adrien had to make sure that he had leverage, and what he had to say would certainly stun his father into silence.

"I didn't call her here for something foolish! You don't even know the reason I called her and you're already dismissing me, just like you always do! I wouldn't have even had to call her on my own if you would for once care about how I feel!"

"That's enough Adrien! Clearly your time in school around those hooligans you call 'friends' have been a bad influence on you. Lila Rossi was correct in her reports."

...

_What? _

"Did you just say Lila Rossi?" Adrien said as his fists clenched even tighter, his nails and his miraculous biting into his skin. That...That was not something Adrien saw coming. He and his friends had already talked about how devious Lila was. He'd never thought that she'd already wormed her way into father's good graces, let alone act as a spy for him.

But it was more than that though. Based on what his father had just admitted to, it seemed that Lila had been very diligent in making sure that Adrien bent to her whims. The fact that she had been using his father to do so, and his father had allowed it, infuriated him.

"Yes, I did. She informed me of how naive you were and offered her help to look after you in school to help cut out all of the bad influences there. But based on your behavior, I fear I may have been too late."

"...You trust Lila over me? _Your own son?_"

"Based on how you're acting? _Absolutely_." Gabriel said.

The office door opened then, Nathalie escorting an olive skinned woman wearing a black pant suit. Her hair flowed down in dark shoulder length curls, her eyes a deep brown, almost black.

But Adrien wasn't paying attention to what Mme. Deveraux looked like, because her entrance had given him the chance (_and the payback_) that he'd been waiting for. He straightened his stance and crossed his arms.

"Well it's a good thing I did call Mme. Deveraux then, since _Lila Rossi sexually assaulted me_."

Gabriel's jaw dropped as Nathalie and Mme. Deveraux gasped, but Adrien kept talking before he could be interrupted. "And considering that you just admitted that you _hired her to spy on me _at school, I was _right_ not to trust you to have my best interest at heart in this situation."

The room was silent for a moment, but Adrien realized it soon wouldn't be as he watched his father's dropped jaw clench, as well as his fists, before Mme. Deveraux stepped between them, closer to Adrien to block him from Gabriel's vision.

"M. Agreste, perhaps it would be better if we all sat down and talked about this."

Gabriel glared, but straightened up, fixing his ascot. "There is no need for that. Adrien is being ridiculous and trying everything he can to get attention. I'm sorry that he wasted your time, my assistant will see you out."

Mme. Deveraux narrowed her eyes at him. "Unfortunately sir, that will not be happening."

"...Excuse me?" Gabriel said, his shoulders tensing.

Mme. Deveraux crossed her arms. "I said, that will not be happening. Your son is the one who called this meeting with me and as you know, only he can cancel it. He also just made a claim of sexual assualt, and since he is a minor, I am lawfully obligated to investigate on his behalf. Especially since you, _his own father_, didn't believe. him."

Gabriel's eyes narrowed to slits. "I could always fire you, Mme. Deveraux. _I_ am Adrien's father and _I _know what's best for him. Entertaining his dramatics is not what I pay you for."

"True, you could do that." Mme. Deveraux said. "But the thing is that it wasn't just you that hired me. I was also hired by Emilie Graham de Vanily Agreste to protect Adrien's interests. She may be missing, but she did not concede her authority over my employment to you. In her contract she also gave her sister Amelie Graham de Vanily authority over my employment if she was not available. I would need Amelie's and your signature to conclude my services."

"That is preposterous! I have never signed any contract like that."

Mme. Deveraux turned her head towards Nathalie. "Mme. Sanceour, as diligent as you are I'm sure you can easily pull up the contract from your records."

Adrien was almost startled to see Nathalie's usually stone cold assuredness, falter and crumble into uncertainty as she looked toward his father as if she were meekly asking his permission. He saw his father give a small nod, despite the glare on his face. Nathalie immediately began tapping away on her tablet. Her lack of tapping less than thirty seconds later informs the room that she's found the contract. Everyone watches as her eyes skim over what she's reading, and because everyone is watching her, they are immediately alerted when they see her expression crumple.

"Um, sir? Unfortunately, Mme. Deveraux is telling the truth. You did in fact sign the contract. Your wife's signature along with her sister Amelie's signature is also here. According to the dates of the signatures, your wife and her sister signed this first, and you were the last to sign. You even signed the part where you acknowledge that you have read it thoroughly."

"I also have video of your wife making her intentions very clear about the contract, as well as creating her will. I can forward that video to Nathalie on a later date. But as you can clearly see, I was telling the truth." Mme. Deveraux said.

Nathalie expression crumpled even further. "She's right. I'm sorry sir, but you are bound by the contract."

Before Gabriel could speak again, Mme. Deveraux cut him off.

"If you did not fully read the contract, that's your problem, not mine. The point is, that no matter how much you don't want me here right now, you have to deal with it. And even if you did succeed in firing me, I would still work for Adrien pro-bono, and I would also report you to the courts for trying to cover up a sexual assault accusation made by your child. You would lose custody of him before the day ends."

Adrien had never seen his father look so furious, but on the inside, Adrien couldn't be happier. Just like Adrien had hoped, his father was cornered and had no choice but to follow along with what Adrien wanted.

Mme. Deveraux gestured to the chairs around the coffee table. "Now, just like I stated previously, it would be better if we sat down and talked about this." She then took a seat on the couch and looked pointedly at his father when he continued to stand in place. "Please have a seat Gabriel. It's impolite to dawdle when you have guests, and it certainly doesn't look good from a business standpoint either."

His father grimaced and then took a seat, and after he did, Nathalie sat beside his father without fail. Both looked extremely uncomfortable and upset, and Adrien couldn't help but let a small grin slip onto his face. Before Mme. Deveraux could begin speaking, Adrien spoke up.

"Ah, before we begin, I'd like to go to the restroom."

Mme. Deveraux smiled and nodded. "Of course Adrien. I'll handle the preliminary issues while you're gone. As per my standard policy, everything beginning from the moment I arrived has been recorded to prevent any issues of hearsay, impropriety, etc. I assure you, you will not be kept in the dark about anything unless you explicitly want to be."

He nodded. "Thank you." He then turned on his heel and walked out of his father's office. The moment the door closed behind him he sprinted up the stairs, into his room, and into the bathroom. He leaned back against his bathroom door and slowly slid down it until he landed on his butt on the floor. And unlike the night before, what spilled out him this time was not tears, but laughter.

Pure, unrestrained, belly aching, snorting laughter.

He laughed long, and he laughed hard, and would have done so even longer if he wasn't startled by his phone getting a text message. Quickly, he pulled out his phone and pressed stop on the recording app he'd had running just before he left his room earlier to go to his father's office. He saved the recording, and then opened the text.

_Text Message_

**Saturday 7:03 A.M**

**Alya: **_I just finished the rough draft on the article you asked me to write. Here's a copy:_

_Attachment__: "The Hjonkening has begun!" _

Adrien snorted, then made the decision to video call Alya rather than waste time texting.

_"You get my text message Sunshine?" _Alya said, and Adrien could hear the exhaustion in her voice and see it on her face. She'd either stayed up most of the night, or woken up early, and Adrien would bet money that it was the latter. Last night had been pretty emotionally exhausting for all of them. They'd been extremely lucky not to have been targeted by Hawk Moth, and Adrien mentally thanked Tikki for blessing them with the good fortune to be able to work through their emotions without repercussions. To be able to feel emotions freely was a luxury no one in Paris could afford thanks to Hawk Moth, so he was extremely thankful. He'd have to give her something nice if and when he got the opportunity to see her again.

"Yeah I got your message, and I see I'm not the only one who enjoys Untitled Goose Game memes. Ironic since you gave me grief over them last night." Adrien grinned.

_"Oh hush, Marinette and I watched Jacksepticeye play it a few weeks ago. The memes are terrible but I can't deny that the chaotic power of the Goose is enticing. I want this power so that I can have vengeance against that liar for what she's done." _Alya said.

"Oh trust me, I know the feeling. After everything that happened last night, I've realized that this was able to go on for so long because I let it. I tried to give Lila multiple chances to be a decent human being, and it backfired. I realized I tried to do the same thing with Chloe and that backfired too. I was stupid to believe that just giving them chances would change them. What I should have done was held them accountable. I should have held Chloe accountable all those times back then, and I should have done the same for Lila. Marinette would have trusted me to have her back if I had, and she more than likely wouldn't have kept the fact that she was threatened to herself either. But that's going to change. I'm through with giving people chances that just take advantage of them."

_"I hear you Sunshine. I'm glad that we're all working together on this. I'm especially thankful for Mylene. It was her that noticed Lila's behavior, and actually investigated to gather evidence. She did more work and had more success in revealing Lila's true colors in less than a day than I did in the entire time that Lila has been going to our school, and __**I'm the journalist**__. If anyone should have caught on to Lila's crap in the beginning, it was me. Even when I put out my retractions and apologies on the Ladyblog after all of this, it won't change the fact that my credibility has been ruined. It hurts, but it's no less than what I deserve for not doing my job. I got blinded by the gold plated crap coming out Lila's mouth, and hurt my best friend by not believing her. I even held Marinette to the same standards I was supposed to abide by and demanded evidence that Lila was lying, and did none of the research." _Alya said, her expression downcast.

"At least you're taking responsibility. And I think your viewers will be more forgiving once we take Lila down. Speaking of which, it turns out that my father had hired her to spy on me in school."

Adrien saw Alya's face twist into something resembling fury and disgust.

_"...What?"_

"Exactly. I'll tell you the details later, but what I will say is that something is suspicious about that entire thing. My dad is smart, and extremely paranoid. He would never fall for Lila's lies. He's the type to take out multiple background checks on his potential and current employees. He would never just strike this kind of deal. I don't know if there's any paperwork regarding her quote, "services" unquote, but I highly doubt it. Lila would never want any paperwork because that would leave a trail."

_"Get to the point Sunshine. The girls will be waking up soon and if you wanna keep this part secret, I suggest you hurry up." _

"Right, sorry. My point is that my dad would know exactly what kind of person Lila was. The fact that he would hire her to spy on me is out of character. Especially since he's always been paranoid about my safety. He said that she's been reporting to him to help cut out all of the negative influences at school. He even said he trusted her more than me."

_"And I bet I know who's on the list __**Lila **__believes is a bad influence on you."_ Alya said.

Adrien nods. "Marinette."

_"At this point Sunshine, I would be more concerned with why your dad, who is smart enough to know what kind of person Lila is, is allowing Lila to have her way in the first place and backing her. We know what Lila is getting out of it, possible sway over your life and better access to you with your dad's blessing, but what could your dad possibly get out of it? If he wanted you separate from your friends he could do that himself by just taking you out of school." _

Adrien went still. Alya was right. It wasn't hard to see what Lila was getting out of being associated with his father, the self serving _parasite_ that she was. But his father was another matter entirely. Fortunately for Adrien, he had a great attorney on his side who had his father cornered.

Adrien grinned. "That is curious, but don't worry. I've got my dad right where I want him. Thankfully, my family attorney is firmly on my side and has made it very clear to my father that he has no power over her. I confessed that Lila sexually assaulted me while she was there, and she warned my dad that if he tried anything he would regret it."

_"That reminds me of why we're talking. I-" _

_"Alya?"_

Adrien could see Alya's head turn, and behind her was her two younger sisters, rubbing the bleariness from their eyes.

Alya quickly turned back around. _"Oops, gotta go Sunshine. Don't forget to read the file I sent you, and make sure you save multiples in different locations just in case. Give one to your lawyer too. It'd be better for her to look it over before I post it so that we have our bases covered. See you Monday!" _

Alya hung up, and Adrien looked at the time on his phone before standing up. He'd been gone for long enough and he didn't want the others to get suspicious. He quickly sent a copy of the recording to Mme. Deveraux, instructing her to keep that secret until further notice. Going back to his texts with Alya, he quickly downloaded the attachment that Alya sent and begin reading over it on his way back to his father's office. He didn't realize it, but as he read, a smug grin grew larger and larger on his face.

This...This was going to be _good. _


End file.
